Kaleidoscope Heart
by Cherry tiger
Summary: Different collections of drabbles and one shots from me, be it from other people's prompts or mine. From their time in Deimon, to Saikyoudai and beyond, there's a lot to discover about the demon and his manager.
1. The Experiment

**Title:** The Experiment

**Rating:** K+

**Word Count:** 583

**Disclaimers:** I do not own any of the characters used here. They belong to their respective owners, namely the creators of Eyeshield 21.

**Notes:** As I've been writing a lot of drabbles lately, I decided I might as well compile them here in one story. They could be prompts from the HirumaxMamori DeviantArt group, gifts for friends, or my own set of prompts (mostly to songs). Whatever it is, as long as it's a one shot drabble, it will be put here.

This particular drabble was written for the HirumaxMamori group in DeviantArt for June's theme of "Child Play". I really couldn't think of much to write, and this came out a lot sillier and more confusing than I hope it would. I decided to write this based on my own little 'experiment' I did back in Uni as I had to write a report based on Children and the Media. And as Mamori aims to be a Kindergarten Teacher, I thought this idea would suit her perfectly. Erm... enjoy? And let me know if it sucks, cause seriously, this drabble is just weird. XD

* * *

"I can't believe you actually came to help me," Mamori laughed as she closed the door. "Are you sure it was all right?"

Hiruma had just changed into his normal clothes and began to pick up one of the drawings left strewn on the floor. "Keh, those fucking kids would need a lot more than to take me down. I've faced worst, remember?"

Mamori bit her lip, but grinned all the same. She also began to clear up the room that was literally covered with toys, drawings and paint. Mamori would have to mop that up later. She still had to gather and write all the data she had gained from her little 'experiment' with the children for her report on children and their mimicking ability. She had prepared a play with her classmate, together with toys and drawing sessions for her to analyze the children's reactions after the play. Sadly, her classmate had pulled out last minute for a reason that seemed to only persist that working with certain people can be a pain for Mamori.

In her haste upon realizing she would have to handle 5 very hyperactive kids on her own, she had called Hiruma to help bring one of the videos she had prepared as a backup plan (you can never be too sure) for her report. What she hadn't expected, though, was Hiruma coming in dressed up in a very familiar rabbit suit, and they both enacted a different play than what she had in mind. The kids loved it and had enjoyed themselves immensely. So the experiment went well enough...

As she continued to clear the room, she picked up one of the drawings and blushed lightly. "I think we may have taken our little 'play' a bit too far."

Hiruma looked over Mamori's shoulder and grinned maniacally. The drawing had the bunny's face practically kissing Mamori, with hearts strewn all over it. "Kekeke, the fucking kids don't let anything out of their sight."

"You really didn't need to hold me that tightly anyways," said Mamori. "The play only required us to do certain poses during our little act to see if kids can pick it up and what they interpret it as."

"So they saw the fact that I couldn't take my paws off you and even THEY knew what that fucking means," he replied.

Mamori glared at him for a moment, and then sighed. "Yes, yes, you're right. I'm sorry for not noticing anything. But you can't really blame me, I had been juggling a lot since I joined the American Football club back in Deimon to really notice it..." Mamori's blush grew deeper.

"Well then, looks like being a fucking kid has its advantages," said Hiruma as he gave her a toy gun. "If that's the case, what say we play a little game before I head back?"

"Game?" said Mamori curiously, taking the gun and putting it on the table. "What kind of...?"

"One to make sure you never forget," he said, putting his arm around her waist and drawing her face closer to his.

Mamori wasn't sure whether she would like this game. But as she glanced down at another drawn picture of her snuggling up to the rabbit, she decided that maybe the kids really were a lot smarter than they look, even if they only express it through drawings and play. Making a mental note to write about this, she closed her eyes and pressed her lips against Hiruma's.


	2. Wandering Thoughts

**Title:** Wandering Thoughts

**Rating:** K+

**Word Count:** 296

**Disclaimers:** I do not own any of the characters used here. They belong to their respective owners, namely the creators of Eyeshield 21.

**Summary:** After being a little too reckless with Hiruma's flame thrower, Mamori ponders over the significance of that moment.

**Notes:** I have to blame Honeybee_89 from Deviantart's "Fire" banner (prompt for the month of July) for inspiring this one. I wasn't really thinking of participating in it, but then this came up and it wouldn't leave me so yeah... I guess I did participate in the end. ^^;; Well, it's short, and really nothing much. But I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

_He's a lot like fire, she thought to herself as she rubbed the burn mark on her shirt._

Her 'little' incident with the flame thrower taught Mamori a lot more than she realized. Upon reflection, that one thought that crossed her mind after that incident had grown into many other insights of the Demon Quarterback. Such as how he was just as uncontrollable as the flame that burnt part of that field. He caused just as much damage, and was unforgiving to those around him.

Her thoughts wandered further as she realized she was careless handling that flame thrower, and she was just as careless with him. Try as she might to control him, somehow it would backfire on her, causing embarrassment and sometimes a little pain. She watched the football team pushed beyond their limits by him, but she had also seen how he pushes himself even further, and no matter how she tried, he would dismiss Mamori's efforts to help him. He was reckless too, she thought.

It was then that she reached the ultimate goal of her thoughts. One that made her smile, as she headed towards the field, files in one hand and camera in the other. He stood by the bench, blowing gum, and asked what was with that horrid smile, to which she casually dismissed as she took her place in the field that she had grown fond of.

Yes, he's a lot like fire. He lit a fire in everyone's heart within the team, and she's sure he'll keep it burning until the very end. And despite Mamori's awful experience with fire and how destructive it is, this was one flame she wanted to keep alive. And she knows it will, as long as she is by his side.


	3. Creampuffs

**Title:** Creampuffs

**Rating:** T (just to be on the safe side)

**Word Count:** 446

**Disclaimers:** I do not own any of the characters used here. They belong to their respective owners, namely the creators of Eyeshield 21.

**Summary:** Mamori had been away for 2 weeks, and came back with a rather odd surprise in the fridge.

**Notes:** Sucky summary, sorry! Well, as a lover of sweets (especially cakes), I knew I had to write for August's theme "Sweet". I really hope you guys enjoy this one! ^^

* * *

It was only after a couple of months of marriage that Mamori noticed the queer predicament involving her husband. She had been away for 2 weeks due to work and she knew her husband wasn't too keen on it. But regardless, work was work, and so she left him on his own for those 2 weeks.

When she came back, everything was still the same. Her husband was home and he greeted her in his usual, cold way, while she set off to prepare dinner. Only when she opened the fridge did she find her surprise.

Creampuffs. The sweet, creamy ones that her husband detested for years, was sitting right in the middle of the fridge. Mamori tried to remember if she had bought any before leaving, but she was pretty sure that even if she were to have bought some, she wouldn't leave it in the fridge, lest her husband gets into a fit over them. So what were they doing there?

Then she realized that the creampuffs were in a box meant for 6… and there were only 3 left. Who could have eaten the other half?

Mamori pondered on this over the next few days. She carefully watched over her husband and tried to figure out why those creampuffs were there. She asked him, and he simply said that he bought it for her, but he didn't explain why only half was left. She wondered if he could be seeing another woman, but the idea of another woman being able to bear with her husband's crazy antics was enough to put that out of her mind. Just in case though, she checked for all the classic signs on whether her husband had been cheating on her, but there really was none to be found.

Maybe he visited Kurita? Even so, Kurita would never eat creampuffs halfway. He was just as bad as Mamori when it came to creampuffs. They both showed no mercy to the soft pastry.

Unable to hide her curiosity anymore, she confided in him about the creampuffs one more time and how it kept bugging her. This time her husband fidgeted just a little, obviously feeling uncomfortable, which worried Mamori a little as well.

To her surprise, he then went up to her and deeply kissed her, his tongue gently exploring her mouth. Then he pulled back and whispered, "You taste like those god damn fucking disgusting things."

They never talked about it since, but she figured it out all the same. Every time she was away for a long period of time, Mamori would find a box of those sweet creampuffs in the fridge, with a few pieces missing.


	4. The Forgotten Valentine's Day

**Title:** The Forgotten Valentine's Day

**Rating:** K+

**Word Count:** 636

**Disclaimers:** I do not own any of the characters used here. They belong to their respective owners, namely the creators of Eyeshield 21.

**Summary:** Life in Saikyoudai had proven to be so hectic, that Mamori even forgets that it was Valentine's Day.

**Notes:** Sorry, summaries aren't my strong point today. This was meant to be as a birthday gift for daftken from LJ but geez, I sure took my time, aye? Sorry about that! Well, this was mostly inspired by this song called "Valentines" by Kina Grannis. I've been trying to come up with something a little more profound than just fluff, but alas, fluff is all I can think of for this. I hope it's still enjoyable to for you guys.

* * *

Back in Deimon, Mamori found it a lot easier to keep up with time. It wasn't that she had a lot of free time in Deimon, but everything fell into place pretty easily for her.

Saikyoudai, however, proved to be her biggest challenge. She had never imagined the workload in college to be too much to bear. And as she continued to be the manager for Saikyoudai's football team, with Hiruma constantly giving her orders and adding on to her workload, time became a precious commodity to her.

So while she should have seen it coming, it still surprised her that it was now the end of the day. And not just any particular day… Valentine's Day.

How in the world did it slip her mind was beyond her. Sure it crossed her mind a week before, but for the whole day to pass with her dismissing every red heart, rose and chocolate thrown her way? Something was definitely wrong.

Of course, she could blame it on the thesis she was working on in the library today. But the biggest culprit would have to be Hiruma, who so conveniently kept her occupied the whole day with more data to go through and organize. Where was that crazy demon was beyond her, but not only did he throw all the data on the desk, with some spilling on the floor, but he had left the whole clubroom in such a disarray, that she was pretty much locked up there until the end of the day.

It was now 8pm, and she felt sure it was too late to ask anyone to accompany her in the next few hours, especially since her friends surely had their own dates to be with tonight. With a heavy sigh, Mamori headed back to her small apartment and decided that she might as well work on that essay due in a few weeks.

Valentine's Day will just have to be another day for her.

Just as she reached her apartment, she received a text message from Hiruma with an odd message that said, "Wait for me."

He didn't explain where to wait, so she guessed that he was coming over. About 10 minutes later, he arrived with a couple of DVDs in his left hand and a box of creampuffs on the right. "Eh?" went Mamori. "Hiruma-kun, why…?"

He didn't say much to her as he placed his laptop on the coffee table in front of the couch and proceeded to play one of the DVDs. An action film, one with a lot of shooting and violence. "Did you finish what I asked you to do?" he asked.

Mamori frowned at Hiruma's blatant dismissal to explain himself. But she answered him anyways, "It's done. I know you needed it right away, but must it be today?"

He ignored her. But Mamori noticed his eyes softened a little. Then a thought occurred to her… so she sat next to him and carefully picked up the box of creampuffs. As they watched the movie, Mamori sat closer to him until she could smell mint from the sugarless gum he was chewing.

"You also forgot what today was, didn't you?" she said. "I thought you didn't care for things like this?"

"If you don't like it, I'm fucking leaving," he replied nonchalantly, but he gave her a quick glance before resuming watching the movie.

It was then that Mamori finally smiled. His answer made perfect sense to her. It was his apology for forcing her to work today, a day he knew she would rather celebrate with her friends, preparing gifts and whatnots. But as she rested her head against his shoulder, watching random people get killed, she realized that despite how awful her Valentine's Day was, at least she was ending it with him.


	5. No More Strangers

**Title:** No More Strangers

**Rating:** K+

**Word Count:** 1,250

**Summary:** Despite her own doubts and fears, Mamori realizes that Hiruma understands her more than she gives him credit for.

**Notes:** It's funny how my first initial idea for this drabble ended up like this. XD. I was greatly inspired when I listened to an LJ user hellosugah's fanmix called Love You Madly. The very first song she chose called "Strangers" by Elisa and this gave me the rough basics of what I aimed to convey in this drabble, and everything else just filled up on its own. Whether it detracts from the original meaning of the song is beyond me, but while you can read the drabble on its own, I recommend checking out hellosugah's fanmix (let me know if you want a link and I'll PM you), or look up Elisa "Stranger" on YouTube if you're interested.

Also, I don't know if I wanna consider this as a drabble as it's over 1000 words but well... it's definitely a one shot worth sharing (I think? LOL!). I'll be working on this month's prompt for the DeviantArt HiruMamo community soon, and I've been listening to a number of songs that remind me of HiruMamo, but I really have no time to make another fanmix, so I'm turning them into my own personal prompts. If you have any songs you'd like to recommend as a prompt for HiruMamo, please feel free to share!

Until then, enjoy this silly offering! ^^

* * *

It was still dark when Mamori woke up from a very strange dream. She tried to recall the dream, searching her memory hard for its last elusive strands, but the more she tried to hold on to the images, the faster they seemed to slip away. All she could remember was a warm, comforting feeling and the smell of gunpowder, mint and coffee…

In fact, she could still smell it right now, which she found quite odd. She blinked to take a better look at her surroundings, but saw nothing but darkness. This definitely wasn't her room, she was sure of that. So she shifted her body to the other side and saw what was before her, only then did everything came back to her.

She had fought with Hiruma.

It was another one of those petty fights that blew out of proportion. Not long after finding out Sena was Eyeshield 21, she did her best to support her childhood friend on the field, but there were still moments that terrified her. Sure, she had seen Eyeshield 21's amazing ability to overcome whatever obstacle came before him, but now all she could see was Sena's face as he ran down the field, and the idea of him being beaten down scared her despite her efforts to hide it and support him from the sides.

So as she went through the strategies and saw that Hiruma planned to use Sena as the main offense in the next game, she couldn't keep it in anymore and began to scold Hiruma. At first, for making Sena bear most of the brunt in the next game, then for tricking Sena into becoming Eyeshield 21 in the first place, and then it went out of control as she started attacking him personally over how horrible he was, and how she would never understand him.

And yet, here she was lying on the couch in the football club room, watching him as he sat in front of his laptop, the only source of faint light illuminating his face… and his jacket on top of her. This fact alone surprised Mamori.

She watched him for a few minutes, analyzing his face. There's that steely determined face he makes as he works on team strategies. His lips were sealed grimly together as his eyes darted over the laptop. His eyes…

They look worn. She had never seen Hiruma this tired before. And suddenly she felt guilty for throwing all her fears on him. What kind of manager was she? He already had so much to bear, she shouldn't be adding to his burden even more.

So she got up, which instantly alerted Hiruma of her presence. "You slept like a fucking baby," he stated.

"I don't remember falling asleep," she said. As she blinked a couple of times, she realized her eyes were slightly swollen. Had she been crying?

He didn't reply, but Mamori remembered everything now. After their fight, she went back to the desk to rearrange the data she had been working on, and she had planned to go home straight after that. But she ended up resting her head on her arms crossed on the table, as she began to cry… That was when she fell asleep.

So how did she end up on the couch? She got up from the couch and walked towards him, clutching his jacket tightly. She had to apologize. "Hiruma-kun, I…"

"I worked on the strategy a bit more. Go through it with the data you collected," he merely stated as he pointed at a few pieces of paper near his laptop.

Mamori looked at him for a moment, her apology still hanging on her lips. But she then turned to the new strategy and looked through it for a moment. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw that Sena was still the main offensive, but it was more obvious that the team was behind him all the way… and that she would play a big role as well. It struck her that he was assuring her of both Sena's role and hers as well. "Hiruma-kun, you…"

"You should get going, it's already quite late," he cut her off again as he got up and shut his laptop. "Get that done by tomorrow afternoon."

She stood there, stunned for a moment as Hiruma headed towards the door. "Wait, Hiruma-kun!" she cried. He stopped as he stood in front of the door, back towards her. "Hear me out, please," she said quickly, hoping that he would not interject again. "I didn't mean to say all those things to you. I know Sena is capable of handling himself, but I've been so worried that I not only completely forgot to have faith in Sena and the others, but most especially in you."

Hiruma still stood with his back towards her. Uncertain, she continued, "You were the one who brought out the best in Sena and everyone in the team. And you've brought us this far for a reason. I shouldn't have doubted you, so this strategy that involves me? It's not necessary… We'll go with the earlier plan and I'll trust you and Sena more."

"Fucking Manager," Hiruma finally spoke aloud, as he turned towards her with a grin. "Just because you feel and act like a Fucking Mother Hen, it doesn't downplay your fucking role in this team. Why do you think your name was called before the game against that fucking Bando Spiders?"

Memories of the day flooded Mamori's mind, but as she remembered how she cried all alone doubting herself, her name boomed aloud in that giant stadium. She recalled how she remembered her role in the Devil Bats, and due to her focusing on doing what she can for the team, only now did she fully understand why Hiruma had set to have her name announced.

"You knew…" she whispered, looking away as she felt her face heating up.

"Well, of course," added Hiruma. "After all, I wanted everyone to know that no one can beat you at creampuff snacking," he cackled as he proceeded to leave the clubroom.

"Hiruma-kun!" she cried before she could stop herself. But now she was grinning as she grabbed her bag and walked beside him, jacket in hand.

"Are you gonna give me my jacket back yet?" he asked her with a grin.

"I was just about to," she said as she held out the jacket. He reached out for it, and his hand lightly brushed hers before he finally took the jacket from her. She smiled as they walked out of Deimon.

For the first time ever, Mamori felt a strange sensation grow within her chest, something that felt strangely familiar. It was warm, and it made her happy. It all made sense to her now, and she knew this feeling would grow stronger in time. "Ne, Hiruma-kun…" she suddenly said.

"What?" he asked seemingly disinterested.

"Thank you…" she said as she looked at him. She opened her mouth to say some more, but somehow that felt more than enough, and he did not press her on. Instead, a quiet understanding lingered between them.

She still could not remember that dream she had, but she was certain now that Hiruma was in it. She had never expected this, looking back at what little history they shared. Yet in his own way, he had fought off her demons. And that was when she decided she would do the same for him.


	6. Right Here Waiting

**Title:** Right Here Waiting

**Rating:** T

**Word Count:** 1,600

**Disclaimers:** I do not own any of the characters used here. They belong to their respective owners, namely the creators of Eyeshield 21.

**Summary:** He wasn't expecting this. But this is all part and parcel of growing up and learning more about the Fucking Manager.

**Notes:** Oh, how I struggled with this one! I've been meaning to write another one shot in Hiruma's POV, but he's really a tough one to write! Anyways, together with the "Blackmail" prompt from DeviantArt's HirumaxMamori group, one particular song really helped shape up the idea for this one shot, and thus this fic was born. It's called "Right Here" by Staind. I highly recommend listening to it.

I touched on the blackmail prompt really lightly so I hope it's all right. I tried to keep it in the best way I can. I hope Hiruma isn't too OOC, and despite the light angst at the beginning, you'll enjoy this somehow. ^^

* * *

Hiruma strode forward in big steps, his mind racing. It was now dark, and the air was cold as winter had finally settled in. He knew it was risky, walking down the icy path, but he had to find her. He had to talk to her.

"_What do you mean you're still playing? The doctor just said you can't!"_

The pain in his right arm began to throb, despite being in a cast. She wasn't answering her phone, she wasn't at her place, and neither was she anywhere in college. He had just passed by the park and there was still no sign of her. He cursed under his breath, which came out in a soft ball of mist.

"_I've always let you have your way before because you were always knew what to do and you always thought ahead! Why are you so careless now?"_

Her words kept ringing through his head. Careless? Him? He thought she knew better than that. But as he recalculated what they had spoken prior to that, it did seem careless of him.

After all, this was their last game together in Saikyoudai.

"_I know winning means a lot to you, and there's so much for you to prove in the next game… But Hiruma__-kun, if you're permanently injured…"_

Yes, there was a risk he could permanently injure his right arm for the rest of his life if he decides to use that new strategy. It was a strategy that required a lot of strength, and so he began to train himself hard, until…

"_You know what you're doing? Hiruma__-kun, your arm was swelling during practice! What would have happened if I didn't see that?"_

She was over exaggerating. His arm wasn't swelling as badly as she thought. And that fucking doctor was only good at increasing her fears. Fuck, he even signed a letter to state that Hiruma shouldn't play in the next game! He remembered placing his left hand into one of his pockets, and was about to reach for the devil's handbook that would be the doctor's undoing until…

"_I can't believe you tried to blackmail the doctor! It's a good thing I stopped you!"_

No, it's fucking not. He can't, he won't miss the next game for anything. He had something to prove, something he had been working on for years. He won't let his fucking arm or anyone stop him.

"… _Then I'll leave."_

What?

"_If you still intend to play__, then I'm leaving. I'll even leave Saikyoudai."_

Who the fuck does she think she is? She can't just up and leave just because of a fucking arm.

But she did. She walked right out of the clubhouse, leaving Hiruma to his thoughts. His first thoughts ranged from she wouldn't do it, to let her leave. Then suddenly Hiruma was filled with a feeling he had not expected to feel about the Fucking Manager.

Fear. Cold, dark fear. He thought it was because his chances of winning without the Fucking Manager were lower now… But no, the more he thought about it, the more it became clear.

He could not imagine going through any game, or any form of obstacles before him, without her.

Has she really gone? Has she started preparations to leave Saikyoudai? His left hand reached into his pocket one more time to feel the thick black book, assuring him that he still has the power to keep her with him.

But would it be right?

Hiruma had reached Deimon now. He didn't expect to come this far, and wondered whether he should check somewhere else. That was when noticed that one of the lights on the school field was on. Maybe one of the students was spending extra hours training? But he had to be sure… so he rushed towards the field.

And there she was, sitting on the familiar bench where she would watch over the team, and where Hiruma would glance over constantly for information and gameplays. She was clutching a football, and she seemed almost frozen as the cold wind blew, strong and biting.

"… Of all the fucking places."

He watched her jump in surprise, her eyes wide as she looked to see him before her. "Hiruma-kun…"

He took this chance to analyze her face. Yes, she had definitely cried. But it seemed light judging by how her eyes weren't swollen. "You really do enjoy giving me a hard time, Fucking Manager."

He watched her look away and kept silent for a moment. "I'm sorry…"

No, he didn't want a fucking apology. He kept watching her as he watched her nervously rub her thumb against the thread of the football, still clutched tightly to her chest.

Then she spoke up. "I figured it out."

He narrowed his eyes. "Figured what out?"

"Why you insist on playing the next game," she breathed softly. "The last game."

He pressed his lips tightly together. He had not expected that. "Full of surprises, aren't you?"

Mamori took a deep breath. "I called your father."

Fuck. "I thought you knew not to get involved, Fucking Manager."

She shook her head. "I knew… but I also knew something didn't seem right." She looked at him steadfastly. "Hiruma-kun, you fool… You should know by now that you've surpassed him."

She really did figure it out. "Not just yet," he replied.

"He's been to your games and you know that!" she cried. "I thought he made it clear as well!"

"That fucking man knows nothing!" he shouted back, anger boiling within him. "He can say whatever the hell he wants, but I will not fall into his level!"

"You won't! What makes you think that?"

"Like hell you'll know what I think, Fucking Manager!"

Tears were brimming in her eyes now. "You're afraid your arm would make you just like your father… Am I right?"

He hadn't thought of it that way. He only thought that if he stops now, he would be a failure. He hated to admit it, but she had a point. As quickly as it came, he felt his anger subside. He kept silent as she got up and walked towards him. "You're nothing like him, even he acknowledges that…" she whispered. "Why can't you?"

He thought for a moment, then sneered. "Being nothing like him gave me the drive to keep going," he admitted. "It's got me this far."

She sighed, looking at the football in her arms. "This game means a lot to you… to us. But no matter what… I can't bear to see you permanently injured."

"Is that why you plan to leave?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I hoped that if I left, the strategy wouldn't work as well and you'd be forced to abandon it."

"The strategy doesn't involve you," he said, curiously.

"I know," she replied, but she looked directly into his eyes as she said it. He wasn't sure what she meant at first. Then it all made sense to him. Why he felt that cold fear when she left, why he searched long and hard to find her…

Hiruma cackled softly. "Damn it, Anezaki, you're a scary woman. You've got a power much stronger than any blackmail material I have."

She smiled as her eyes darted further from him and towards the vast field. "I'm still not that powerful," she murmured as she placed the football she was holding back on the bench. "Cause even though I was so determined to leave you, look where I ended up? Back in Deimon, back on the same bench where you once always expected me to be, and somehow, waiting for you…"

He didn't reply. Her words merely cemented his desire to always keep her by his side, for them to always be together. Regardless of how strong she may seem, she's still fragile, and so he made up his mind.

"About your arm…" she hesitated.

"Fuck it," he said, looking back at her with his heart feeling a lot lighter. "I still intend to play. There's no way of backing out now. But we're gonna have to work on a new strategy. Don't expect any sleep."

She gasped. "Hiruma-kun? Are you really…?"

"You still have that report due, right? Kekeke, looks like you're gonna have it rough the next few days. You can blame yourself for that," he said, as he turned to leave. "Now let's get the fuck out of here…"

He felt a light tug on his left arm, and suddenly she was holding his left arm tightly, hiding her face at the back of his shoulder. He saw a smile at the corner of his eye, but felt the warm tears pierce through his sweater.

He reached out for her hand and held on to it. Both their hands were cold, but it felt warm as they held each other close. They walked out of Deimon, then she said, "Your father's coming for the game, you know."

He grinned. "Let him come. He's seen it before, and he'll see a hell load more of what I'm capable of in the next game."

She smiled contently. But her expression suddenly changed as she remembered one last fact. "The doctor's letter!"

His grin grew even wider which he knew would make her even more worried. "I'll take care of that."

"Hiruma-kun!" she cried, but let out a sigh as she couldn't hide her smile. "Fine… I really can't stop you for that one. Just don't… ruin the doctor too much, okay? Or I'll smack you with my broom."

He cackled as he held her hand even more tightly.


	7. This Is Halloween

**Title:** This is Halloween

**Rating:** T

**Word Count:** 2,345

**Disclaimers:** I do not own any of the characters used here. They belong to their respective owners, namely the creators of Eyeshield 21.

**Summary:** Mamori went all out on dressing up as Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas, only to have been tricked by her classmates. But Hiruma comes to the rescue with his own special brand of surprise...

**Notes:** Written for the DA group HirumaxMamori's October prompt "Costumes". DO NOT TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY. Like, really, the premise of this fic is silly and nonsensical, that I don't know how I managed to write over 2000 words of this rubbish. XD I had moments where I thought I should take this a little more seriously but... nah. Tis Halloween. Tis should be a fun prompt. And so I made this as silly and as random as possible. So yeah, I apologize if you end up confused by the end of it all. But I hope you guys do enjoy it somehow!

* * *

Mamori sat by one of the benches, annoyed and ultimately fed up.

It had taken a lot of guts for her to be here at this Halloween eve party held in the outdoor campus of Saikyoudai, especially since she had no intention of coming to begin with. But it was her first year in Saikyoudai, and a few classmates she'd met during lectures insisted that she come along, and that she could join in their theme of dressing up as female characters from animated movies. Despite Mamori patiently explaining to them how busy she was with assignments and football, they persisted, convincing Mamori that her inclusion to their little group would be perfect, and that they really needed someone like her. And naively, half-heartedly admitting to herself it had been a while since she had been to a party, she agreed.

Yet here she was, surrounded by girls dressed up as Disney Princesses with beautiful gowns, while the boys stood smug and confident as Princes. While she…

She was dressed in a torn, patched up dress, with fake stitches across her lips and face and a long red-brown wig that fell to her hips. In the spirit of Halloween, Mamori had donned the look of Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas. She had thought it was the perfect costume, having loved the movie herself, and even checked with the girls who invited her to ensure no one else was doing it. She had worked hard to put the costume together, and it had taken lots of time and practice for her to get her makeup right.

But the moment she stepped into the party, she felt as though someone had stabbed her through the heart. The girls had lied to her. Although this was a Halloween party, there were no vampires, no ghouls, no zombies or demons as she had expected. Just… pretty girls in pretty dresses accessorized with their pretty princes.

Before she could run away, one of her classmates had caught her and pulled her to the middle of the crowd, where reactions to her outfit ranged from disgust to outburst of laughter. "Oh, didn't I tell you? We're dressing up as the Disney princesses," explained one girl. "They're animated after all."

"But I told you I was dressing up as Sally!" said Mamori, trying to hide the crack in her voice. Only when she said it did she realize she was the only one who'd told them what her costume was going to be, and she had naively thought they would follow suit. "Why couldn't you tell me that the theme was Disney?"

"Oh, you told us that? I thought you knew. After all, no one would think of Sally when we mention animated female characters. She's not even drawn, she's clay. Definitely not cool," she replied with a smirk, and they left her standing alone in the middle of the crowd that continued to laugh. She had been tricked and she wasn't even sure why… Had she done something to make these girls angry? All she wanted was to be nice and friendly to her fellow classmates. And yet this had to happen.

And so here she was, sitting on one of the benches away from the crowd, holding back her tears so as not to ruin the makeup she worked on for hours. She continued to console herself, telling herself that she had merely misjudged these people and she would never make the same mistake again. That she knew who she was, and that she had friends who accepted her.

But most of all, that Sally is an amazing character, even if she isn't a Disney Princess.

She heard a rustle behind her, and turned to see who it was. She gasped when she saw a man with a skeleton for a head, wearing a torn and frayed tuxedo approach her. "J-Jack?" she muttered.

"Kekeke, my costume can't be that fucking good, Fucking Manager," she heard a voice say from beneath the skeleton mask.

"H-Hiruma-kun!" Mamori cried, but no one from the party heard her as the music from the party was still too loud.

Hiruma removed the mask, revealing his sharp toothy grin. "Looks like I'm missing out on a good party."

"H-how did you know about…?"

"You freaking missed practice to work on this stupid fucking costume," he replied quite angrily, but his grin remained. "So there was no way I was going to miss this."

"I guess you were hoping to embarrass me too? Well, you're too late for that," said Mamori, sighing as she looked at the party. "This place is for prim and proper princes and princesses. People like us, that seem to be made of clay and are too creepy, will never be welcomed."

Hiruma gaze swept across the room. "Oh, is that what they say?" he drawled. He then put his skeleton mask back on and grabbed Mamori's hand.

"Wait, what are you doing? We can't!" cried Mamori.

"Come on, Sally," she heard him say under the mask. "Let's show them you're a better princess than these fake whores."

Mamori was so shocked by those words that she didn't realize he had pulled her to the middle of the dance floor. Everyone was staring at them, shocked, curious, disgusted and slightly amused. Mamori looked around, wondering what was about to happen when she felt Hiruma draw her close to him, his hand on her left hip and his right gripping hers.

The loud, happy music playing earlier faded away to play Sally's tune instead. There was no singing, but the violins and strings prompted Hiruma and Mamori to sway slowly, in time with the music. The moment enchanted Mamori, who hadn't expect Hiruma to be a decent dancer. But as her eyes strayed to the crowd, Hiruma pulled her closer and their faces were a blur. "Look at only me, Sally," she heard him say. She couldn't see his expression, but she could guess that his devilish grin was on and playful eyes were staring right at her. "You're mine now, nothing else matters."

"What…?" she murmured before the music came to an abrupt stop. Hiruma had let her go and turned to look around the crowd.

"Ah, such lovely looking guests we have here!" he shouted, his voice dripping with glee. "All of you with your pretty laces and frocks! Why, such beauty alone should be powerful enough to keep us waking in fear…"

The sound of eerie laughter surrounded the party-goers. The girl who insisted Mamori come, and the one she was now certain was the party organizer, marched towards Hiruma. "Who are you? You're not welcome here, you filthy looking creature!"

"I'm honoured by your compliment, my lady," Hiruma replied. "After all, you have such a beautiful party, with such beautiful guests this Halloween Eve that I couldn't resist being a part of it. Ah, but look at the time… see! It is close to midnight!"

"What are you talking about?" cried the girl, losing her patience. "The party started an hour ago and—"

DING!

There was the sound of a chime, like an old Grandfather's clock. The guests looked around for the source, some looking at their watches, certain that midnight could not be drawing so near. But the chime continued to ring three times, four, five…

The torches and lights that lit the outdoor campus were going out now, to be replaced by a red, dim glow. The laughter surrounding them was getting louder now. The bell struck six, seven, eight times…

"My dear lady," Hiruma continued. "Despite how lovely your party is, I can't help but feel as though something is missing. Something… important," he said with his face drawn close to the girl, who stared up into his skeleton eyes that looked dark red in the light and cowered at the sight of it.

The bell has now struck, nine times now, ten, eleven…

Mamori could practically feel the glee coming from Hiruma's voice. "I believe you all have forgotten that…"

DING!

With his arms outstretched, Hiruma announced, "This. Is. Halloween."

Instantly, Mamori watched as ghouls, demons, monsters, zombies and every sort of dark creature rushed out from the trees and bushes, making strange and creepy noises. They upturned tables, tore down the Princess decorations and terrorized the girls by tugging at their dresses or pulling at laces. Their little crowns grabbed and passed among what Mamori thought were trolls.

Some of the boys were tackled to the ground by zombies or knocked unconscious by demons. A short but big dog came racing across barking loudly, chasing down a couple of boys who ran as quickly as they could. But one became a victim as the dog bit down his leg and began to chew, ruining his princely robe. In the midst of the chaos, the screams of terror as the guests tried to flee, it occurred to Mamori who these monsters were.

The Deimon Devil Bats.

"S-Sena? Monta?" Mamori called out to the two trolls who were running around her.

"Mamori-nee-chan!" cried Sena. "You recognized me?"

"MUKYA! Mamori-san! Even with those stitches you're so pretty!" cried Monta.

"Give me back my crown!" one of the girls cried, chasing after them. Instantly Sena and Monta ran off, laughing gleefully, or maybe frightfully. Mamori wasn't sure now. She could see Kurita, dressed like an oversized mummy, hanging around the overturned banquet table, picking off food that could still be salvaged and eating it. The Ha-Ha brothers were beating some of the guys up. Yukimitsu, dressed as a mad scientist, attempted to scare some of the guests off and when that failed, Musashi came up behind them looking like Frankenstein, which usually succeeded in scaring them into hiding. Suzuna, dressed as a cheerleader zombie with skates, skated circles around the guests until they were dizzy. Taki had attempted his own version of vampires… by putting sparkles all over himself. Mamori winced as the girls beat him up.

"IMPOSSIBLE!" she heard Taki cry. "THE GIRLS LOVE SPARKLY MEN!"

As all this chaos was happening, she heard Hiruma cackle loudly with such joy, Mamori could imagine tears of sheer amusement falling from his eyes. He held Mamori's shoulder, whispered at her to close her ears, took out a bazooka, aimed it into the air and fired. "YA-HA!" he shouted as the bazooka exploded.

Fireworks cackled and burst into the air, as it took shape to show a skeleton, with a snake slithering out of its jaw. Mamori stood shocked at the sight. "The… Dark Mark?"

That was the final straw. All the guests had run away now, causing the remaining dark creatures to cheer, running towards Mamori. "Mamo-nee!" cried Suzuna as she skated up to hug her.

Mamori was speechless at the sight of all her old team members from Deimon gathered before her. "Suzuna-chan? Everyone? But… why? You're all from different colleges…"

"We heard a rumour all the way back in Enma!" explained Suzuna. "That there were these girls from Saikyoudai who were really jealous of someone in the American Football team in Saikyoudai!"

"I thought it was a joke," explained Sena. "But even the boys from one of my classes were talking about it. And then they mentioned they were jealous of a girl in the team and that they were plotting something…"

"We knew it must be you, but none of us knew what the plan was," said Monta. "Or when it was going to happen, until…"

"Those of us from Takekura Construction work closely with some party caterers and were told about a Princess Party happening in Saikyoudai," said Musashi. "I didn't think you'd be in it until these guys from Enma had a friendly match with us Babels recently and told me about these girls and their plot."

"And so he contacted Hiruma," said Yukimitsu. "Who then contacted me, and well…"

"The rest is history!" Sena, Suzuna and Monta chimed, grinning happily.

Mamori wasn't sure how to react to all this information. The fact that there were girls jealous enough of her to do this was definitely heart breaking, but…

The sight of the Devil Bats smiling before her was definitely helping her overcome the heartbreak. "Fucking Fatty!" Hiruma called, removing his mask for a moment. "Stop eating that rubbish! Did you bring the other food?"

Kurita stopped eating the cream cake and turned to look at Komusubi who stood next to him faithfully. "Did you bring your father's moving truck?" he asked Komusubi. He nodded and rushed towards the truck. He opened the doors to the back where a mountain of fried fast foods, Halloween themed cakes and creampuffs filled the truck. "F-food!"

Everyone else sweat-dropped at the sight, but with a shrug they rushed forward to take some of the food, Suzuna skating along laughing and enjoying herself. Cerberus, who was still now chewing one of the boy's expensive shoes, spat it out and proceeded towards the truck, everyone making sure they were not in his way. Mamori shook her head. "Hijacking another person's party?" she said to Hiruma.

"You called that fucking princess shit a party?" Hiruma cackled.

Mamori shrugged, but she smiled all the same. It was Halloween after all and despite how pretty it all looked, it did seem out of place. "Why did you gather the Devil Bats?" she asked as she watched everyone enjoying themselves around the truck, and laughing at each other's costumes. Cerberus began to eat most of the fried food. "It wasn't necessary to get them involved."

"Are you kidding me? Only they would be such fucking idiots to get into the spirit of this shit," said Hiruma. "Besides…" He took out his black book. "This may come up to our advantage in the upcoming games."

Mamori looked at Hiruma with shock. But she then burst into a fit of giggles. "You never change, Hiruma-kun… always the opportunist." She looked down at her costume, smiling sadly. At least her efforts with this costume did not go to waste, and despite what had happened earlier, she got to spend time with the old Devil Bats once more.

Then something occurred to her. "Wait, did you dress up to be the Jack to my Sally?"

Hiruma grinned as he put on his mask one more, taking Mamori's hand and pulling her close to him into a dance stance. "No one messes with The Nightmare Before Christmas…" he hissed under the mask, face drawn close to hers. "Besides, it is plain as anyone can see… we're simply meant to be."


	8. A Little Surprise

**Title:** A Little Surprise

**Rating:** K

**Word Count:** 1,939

**Disclaimers:** I do not own any of the characters used here. They belong to their respective owners, namely the creators of Eyeshield 21.

**Summary:** It's Mamori's birthday, and though there's work to be done, she's met with a few surprises along the way.

**Notes:** Argh! I'm a day late with this! My life has been insanely hectic lately, as not only did I have NaNoWriMo to worry about (which I won by the way... YAY!), but my work load had increased. Trying to juggle them all, together with some other stuff, has proven to be quite tough for me.

Anyways, I decided to do a mash up of DA group HirumaxMamaori's November prompt "Work" together with the fact that it was Mamori's birthday about a week ago to celebrate. And this is what I came up with. Simple, silly fluff like cake with 0 nutrition. Yes, most of my fics are pretty much cheesy, RiddleRaven. XD Hahahahaha! A big hug to Elis who helped with the edits for this.

Okay, I'll shut up now. It's really late but I do hope you guys enjoy it somehow!

* * *

"Happy birthday, Anezaki-sensei!"

Mamori almost jumped at the sudden and loud greeting, accompanied by loud party poppers. But soon, children around the age of 3 and 4 gathered around her knees excitedly as her colleague, Sayaka, held her birthday cake with both hand. The classroom was decorated with coloured streamers and balloons, and on the blackboard were the kids' drawings and birthday wishes for Mamori.

Mamori stood awed by all this as the children pulled her to sit on one of the chairs. "Sensei! Sensei!" they cheered excitedly. "Do you like the decorations? We did it all by ourselves!"

"And with my help, of course," said Sayaka, winking. But the kids ignored her as they carried on trying to get her attention.

"Sensei! I drew the puppy on the board! Isn't it cute? You like dogs, right?"

"Sensei! I made an origami rose for your birthday! Do you like it?"

"Sensei! Blow the candles, quickly! I want a piece of cake!"

Mamori could not help but laugh at the children as she got up and put one finger on her lips. It was one of the rules in their classroom. Whenever a teacher puts a finger on her lips, it means that the children must do the same and be quiet. Once the class had finally settled down, she beamed at them. "Thank you all for the lovely birthday surprise! It was very sweet of you, and I'm very, very happy!"

The children cheered and proceeded to pull Mamori towards the birthday cake. "Make a wish, Anezaki-sensei!" cried one of the children.

"Oh! Do wish that this day will never end!" cried one little girl.

"No! Wish for lots and lots of money!" cried one little boy. "Then you can be rich and have parties like these everyday!"

Mamori laughed and shook her head. "That's all right. I shall wish that you all grow up to be good little boys and girls," she said.

"Aww!" the kids moaned in disappointment, making Mamori laugh once more as she faced her birthday cake and blew out the candles.

The party lasted an hour as they played games and sang songs. Then they had classes in the colourfully decorated classroom for the rest of the day. Classes were soon over, and Mamori watched the children, smiling happily and waving goodbye as they were picked up by their parents, each chattering excitedly about their surprise birthday party for Anezaki-sensei.

When Mamori returned to the classroom, she found Sayaka pulling out some of the streamers from the wall. "Ah! Let me help!" cried Mamori as she approached Sayaka.

"Oh no, it's really fine," replied Sayaka, but Mamori was already next to her, helping to take the streamers down. Sayaka smiled softly, before proceeding to clean up some more.

"Thank you," said Mamori as she pulled down more streamers. "You organized this party, didn't you? With the children?"

Sayaka giggled. "Yes, and let me tell you, they were thrilled to help organize this party for you," she said as she pulled out a garbage bag.

"It really wasn't necessary," said Mamori, as she pulled the last of the streamers and went to get a broom. "Well, I can't deny it was nice to be able to play with the children, but the decorations and the presents were a bit too much, wasn't it? I'm just their teacher after all and I've only been here for seven months now."

Sayaka shook her head. "The children wanted it very much," she explained. "Contrary to what you think, Mamori, the children have grown quite fond of you. Well, I suppose being younger than the rest of us, you could get along with them more… Oh, I'm kidding! Sayaka laughed, looking at Mamori's troubled face by that statement. "I'm just trying to say that the children really adore you, Mamori, and even though you are strict at times, they appreciate what you do. After all, don't you bake cookies for them for their birthdays? Don't you help them make crafts to give to their parents on their birthdays? I'm sure they're more than happy to return the favour!"

Mamori smiled and nodded, feeling a little better to know that the little things she did at work mean something. "Thank you, Sayaka-sensei."

"Oh! Are you going to celebrate with your friends tonight?" asked Sayaka as she picked up some stray paper cups found behind one of the cupboards.

"No, I'm going out with them this weekend instead," said Mamori, sweeping under the tables. "I'll be staying at home tonight."

"That's not a nice way to celebrate the end of your birthday," said Sayaka, frowning a little. "You should be out with a special someone. You should go out on a date!"

Mamori laughed at the idea. "No, it's really fine," said Mamori as she swept the dirt into a nearby dustpan. "After the party this morning, I would love some peace and quiet. You should go home and be with your husband though! I know you've been working late these past few days!"

"Oh, he understands," said Sayaka, holding out the garbage bag so that Mamori could throw the dirt from the dustpan in there. "And you can be sure, I fully intend to make it up to him. It's still a shame you don't have a boyfriend, Anezaki! You're such a nice girl, you deserve someone who will treat you well."

"Hmm…" Mamori quietly replied, smiling as her eyes suddenly looked distant. Sayaka looked at Mamori carefully, but that look suddenly disappeared as Mamori said, "Oh, I'll help mop the floor!"

Sayaka laughed. "Very well. I'll throw away the garbage."

Once they were done cleaning and they had locked the kindergarten up, Mamori looked at the time and panicked a little. She ran just in time to catch the train home, and breathed a sigh of relief as she finally closed the door behind her, finally home.

As she walked in, she saw a box sitting right in the middle of her dining table. She approached it, and saw a familiar scrawl written on a piece of paper on top of the box.

_Don't open until I fucking say so._

Mamori sighed again. "That was rather crude, Hiruma-kun," she muttered to herself, taking off her coat. But a smile lingered at the corner of her lips as she prepared a simple dinner. Once done, she then approached her PC sitting next to the hall and turned it on.

Mamori still wasn't very good with computers, but she knew enough to turn it on and start up certain programs. And so she opened an instant messaging program, and to her surprise, he was already online.

Instantly, he called her, the sound of ringing echoed through her speakers. Mamori quickly checked to make sure the microphone and the webcam was properly attached, and answered it.

"You're early!" she cried to the microphone as his image popped up. "You could have slept in a little more!"

"Well, I'm already awake so can it, Fucking Manager," said Hiruma, though there was a tinge of amusement in his voice. It was dark, wherever he was. Mamori surmised that he was in his hotel room, and that he merely had the curtains drawn, for surely the sun should be up by now. Yet the only source of light he had was that of his laptop. "So? How was your day at work?"

"First of all," said Mamori, crossing her arms. "I still don't know why you still call me that. Second, it was good. The children prepared a surprise party for me."

"Ah," Hiruma replied. "Were there bazookas involved?"

"No, only party poppers."

"Flame throwers?"

"Just a match to light the candles."

"Rapid gunshots into the air to mark the fact that you're getting older?"

"Hiruma-kun!" Mamori exclaimed, turning slightly red. "Don't be ridiculous! I work with children!"

"Keh, they don't know what they're missing," Hiruma cackled, leaning back a little. "And when will you be celebrating with the Fucking Shorty and others?"

"Mind you, Sena isn't as short as you think," Mamori scolded, then she smiled. "He and the rest of the others are busy today. It is a weekday after all. So I'll meet up with them this weekend."

"Good," he replied. "I'll send them a package with orders on how to really celebrate your birthday the right way," he cackled.

"Hiruma-kun!"

It's been over a year now since Hiruma had begun training in America, working alongside Clifford and other different teams in America. It was a special invitation, one that Mamori knew he would not refuse. What she didn't expect was that before he left, he had taught her how to use this instant messaging program to keep in touch with him. And since then, almost every day they would greet each other around this hour. Night time in Japan, and early morning in America. They would keep each other up to date with what was happening with their lives. Hiruma with his training, and Mamori from her time studying her last years in Saikyoudai, to now being a kindergarten teacher.

"Hey, did you get the box I sent?" he suddenly asked.

"Eh?" Mamori turned to look at the box on the dining table. "Yes, I did."

"Go get it and come back in front of the computer with it," he instructed.

Mamori nodded and went to get the box. She sat in front of the computer, showing the box to the webcam. "Is this it?"

"Yup," he said. He glanced down to look at the time. "Open it… now."

Mamori then proceeded to open the box… to find a few creampuffs. Mamori frowned a little and was about to put the box away when she noticed something shining in between the creampuffs.

It was a ring. A simple band of silver adorned with a tiny clear jewel in its centre sparkled amongst the creampuffs. She pulled it out, and watched it sparkle a little under the light. "Hiruma-kun?" she asked, confused.

"It's a promise," he explained, shrugging a little. "That I'll definitely return."

Mamori smiled softly. "But we all know you'll return."

Hiruma grinned. "I'll return… and make you mine, Fucking Manager."

She looked at Hiruma curiously. Then she looked at the clock on the wall, and then looked at the ring again. "You… Oh!" she exclaimed.

"Figured it out, eh?" he cackled. "I should go now, gotta get ready."

Mamori nodded. "Good luck and do your best for today!" she said. Then she took the ring and put it into her right ring finger. "You know, most men would put these in nice velveteen boxes."

"Those aren't edible," Hiruma cackling a little as he watched Mamori show off the ring for a moment on the webcam, before finally cutting the call.

Mamori let out a content sigh this time as she pulled out one of the creampuffs and began to eat it. These were definitely not Kariya creampuffs. They must be some luxurious brand in America. Though she still preferred Kariya, she enjoyed the rich taste of this creampuff as she looked at the ring on her right hand.

Hiruma had wanted her to have the ring on the exact time she was born, 9.15pm. It was also around this hour that they last saw each other face to face, with the same promise that he'll come back. Someday soon, she knew he was going to appear once more before her around this time. And when that happens, who knows what kind of madness he'd whip up for her.

Mamori smiled a little. Until then, there's work to focus on.


	9. Christmas Eve

**Title:** Christmas Eve

**Rating:** K

**Word Count:** 1,790

**Disclaimers:** I do not own any of the characters used here. They belong to their respective owners, namely the creators of Eyeshield 21.

**Summary:** They would both rather be spending their Christmas Eve doing something else. But after falling for a simple trick, they end up together on that very day and decide to make the best out of it.

**Notes:** I rushed with this, no doubt about it. So I'm sorry it sucks. -_- Life hasn't been easy for me, so I practically pulled my head into this story and did what I could. It's cheesy, I know, so I apologize for that.

Also, I kind of tacked in this month's "Winter Wonderland" theme from the DA group HirumaxMamori in at the very end, so it may seem off. Again, I'm really sorry for that. But I really hope you guys enjoy this somehow!

And lastly, I'm writing this based on Hiruma and Mamori's first year in Saikyoudai. I wasn't sure where to put that little detail in, so I'm mentioning it here. Have a great new year everyone!

* * *

Hiruma looked at his phone for the 23rd time that evening, checking on the time. He cursed softly, clutching on to his jacket even more tightly. "Fuck," he muttered. "She's late."

He scanned his surroundings, feeling a little sick. Couples of every shape and size clung on to each other, as they walked across the beautifully decorated shopping district where he stood waiting. Lights of all colours blinked before Hiruma, almost taunting him and his mere presence within the district. A few couples looked at him in pity. His elf-like ears could pick up mutterings which concluded that Hiruma must have been stood up.

"Fuck," he muttered again. He didn't want to be here at all, especially on the most nauseating day like this. Where everyone seemed to be out to prove to the world that they had a special someone with them, giving away sickeningly sweet gifts to try to get laid. He would much rather be hiding somewhere, working, or just playing pranks on all these idiots. But he couldn't do that today. Of all the days, he had to be standing here in one of the busiest districts just because…

"Hiruma-kun!"

Hiruma quickly turned towards the source of the voice. "Finally, Fucking Manager!" he scolded.

Mamori ran up to him, gasping for breath. Her hair was in a mess, and she didn't seem to have put her jacket on properly. The scarf she was wearing was splayed all over her instead of being properly wrapped around her neck. "I'm sorry!" she gasped, bending over a little to catch her breath. "I'm so sorry! It's just that you alerted me at the last minute and I had to cancel all my plans and—"

"Wait, what?" went Hiruma, confused. "Weren't you the one who said to meet up here because you were having trouble with the data I passed you?"

"Eh?" Mamori blinked in surprise, finally straightening up to look at him. "But weren't you the one who wanted to meet up so that I could pass the data to you? I mean, I was working on it till the last minute, and I had to cancel all my plans for Christmas Eve for that…" Mamori faltered as she looked at Hiruma's incredulous face.

"You're fucking kidding me…" said Hiruma, as he and Mamori checked their phones where they each received the different messages. They then let out a groan.

"Fucking Skates…" Hiruma growled.

"Oh, Suzuna!" Mamori let out a sigh, as she bent over again, feeling incredibly worn out. "I was so stupid! I didn't check to see who sent that message and assumed it was you!"

"And I thought you were with the Fucking Skates and she was sending the message on your behalf," said Hiruma, keeping his phone in his pocket. He looked at Mamori who looked utterly crestfallen. For not only did she push herself to finish the data by today, but she had cancelled all her plans for today just so that she could be with him.

"But you know… I didn't need the data till next week. Our next game is in a couple of months after all so there was no rush," he pointed out.

Mamori glared back at Hiruma. "How was I supposed to know?" she cried, and to Hiruma's horror, the couples around them began to look at them. "We just had a game a few days ago and we lost! Everyone was so badly affected by that so I wanted to support you and the team as much as I can! So I just… Oh!" Mamori's hands quickly covered her face. "I'm so stupid! Just so stupid!"

Hiruma could hear Mamori sniffle a little, and noticed more people were looking at them. Holding back a groan, he grabbed Mamori's arm and pulled her into one of the nearby shops. Mamori gasped in surprise, but quickly rubbed her eyes. "Where are we going?" she asked.

Hiruma didn't say a word as they went into what looked like a department store. It was still filled with a lot of people, but he pulled Mamori to a corner where they weren't so visible. "Fix yourself up," he told her as he looked around. "You look like you just went through a fucking hurricane."

Sniffling just a little more, Mamori nodded and began to button up her jacket, wrap the scarf around her neck properly and ran her fingers through her long hair to straighten it up a little. "I'm sorry for barking at you like that," she said, sighing a little.

"Like I fucking care," Hiruma muttered. "Stupid skates made you work on what's supposed to be one of the happiest days of the year."

Mamori shrugged. "I guess she just wanted me to be with you… That looks pretty obvious, isn't it?" She looked at the crowd around them, noticing many of them were couples. "After all, it's Christmas Eve. A day that's supposed to be meant for lovers here in Japan."

"Keh, after all this time she's still trying to pair us up," Hiruma growled, eyeing the disgusting decorations within the store. "We've always managed to avoid her tricks…"

"But I guess we got so caught up over our recent loss, we walked straight into this one…" said Mamori, looking down. Hiruma turned to look at her, and realized what was really wrong.

"Guess we were both badly affected by that loss. But stop bearing the fucking burden on your shoulders, Fucking Manager," said Hiruma, avoiding her eye contact. "We're definitely going to fucking kill the next team we face. Until then, you definitely need the time off."

Mamori looked at him a little, still feeling a light pain in her chest. The loss was unexpected, as they had worked really hard. But the opposing team overwhelmed them. If only they could have pushed on a little more…

"Well, since we're here already, we might as well make the best out of it," Hiruma prompted her to walk with him into the department store.

Walking slowly, she nodded. "What do you usually do on Christmas Eve, Hiruma-kun?" asked Mamori. It was a rather personal question, she knew, but she was undoubtedly curious.

"Working on football plans, of course," he replied nonchalantly. "And probably making plans to ruin everyone's lovey-dovey plans in the park," he grinned.

Mamori shook her head, smiling a little. "It's very much like you…" she murmured. They were quiet for a moment, trying their best not to be separated by the many groups of people walking into their direction. Until suddenly, Hiruma noticed Mamori had walked straight into the aisle for gifts. Her eyes were lit up excitedly. "Look, Hiruma-kun!" she said as she pointed at a music box. "I bought that for my mother for Christmas this year! Isn't it pretty? I wonder if she'll like it? Ah!" Mamori ran down the aisle a little more and looked at the many keychains being displayed in a corner. "These are cute!" she gushed, going through the many available keychains.

Hiruma merely sneered, feeling rather out of place. But he stayed for a moment, as he couldn't help but feel relieved that Mamori was finally smiling. "Hey, Hiruma-kun…" she said, grabbing his attention once more with an inquisitive look. "What was the best Christmas present you ever received?"

Hiruma ginned. "Seeing people's face filled with complete and utter terror, of course."

"No! Not those kind of gifts!" Mamori crossed her arms. "I mean, from others! How about your parents? Didn't they at least give you something?

He merely shrugged. "Never really got a gift for Christmas and I really don't fucking care," he said.

"Eh? Really?" went Mamori, looking confused. Then she looked at the keychains, and back at Hiruma who watched as Mamori pondered for a moment. "Could you wait here just a sec?"

"What the fuck?" went Hiruma, but before he could look, Mamori grabbed one of the keychains and ran to the closest counter. He wondered what she was up to, before she finally returned, a small plastic bag in her hands. She pulled out the item within it and presented it to Hiruma.

It was an American Football keychain. "There!" she said, happily placing it in Hiruma's hand. "You finally received a Christmas present! Sorry it's simple, and I didn't wrap it up. But I'm sure you'll receive better presents that are bound to come in the following years. I'll make sure of it."

Hiruma looked at the keychain on his palm and looked back at Mamori, grinning a little. "Don't expect me to give you a fucking keychain or a music box just for this," he said.

"Oh, I want more than a keychain or a music box," said Mamori, smiling. "I want Saikyoudai to win the Rice Bowl."

Hiruma cackled in amusement, clutching on to the keychain. "Quite a high standard you have there, Fucking Manager… I pity whoever becomes your boyfriend," he grinned.

"Only the best will do," Mamori giggled. "Don't you think so, Hiruma-kun?"

"Damn straight," he said, as he placed the keychain in his pocket. "Now let's get out of here before I pull out my MK-47 and put holes to all those fucking disgusting decorations."

Laughing a little, Mamori grabbed Hiruma's arm this time, making sure they wouldn't be separated as they finally left the store where another surprise awaited them.

It was now snowing softly at the shopping district, as a white blanket soon covered most of the decorations. The snow made the lights sparkle even more, leaving quite a sight to behold. Many couples rushed for shelter while a few snuggled together on benches or within cafes to watch the snow.

"Pretty…" Mamori murmured, her breath clearly visible now. Hiruma put his hands within his jacket and watched the snow as well. "Hiruma-kun…" Mamori called out to him once more with a smile. "Merry Christmas."

Hiruma didn't reply, but he grinned in return. Sure, he hated how people took advantage of this day of the year to be with a special someone and give gifts. But maybe… just maybe… it wasn't so bad after all.

But next year, he'll definitely get revenge on the Fucking Skates as well as find a way to prank all these idiotic couples, staring at him and Mamori strangely. Finally memorizing their faces, he turned to Mamori and said, "Stop standing under the snow, Fucking Manager. I know you can be an Ice Queen but you don't have to be fucking literal about it."

"Hiruma-kun!" Mamori cried in anger as Hiruma walked away, cackling. Shaking her head, Mamori then walked with him side by side, and they went on to enjoy the beautiful sights that only winter could ever give.


	10. Brooms and Bets

**Summary:** After defeating Hakushuu Dinosaurs, Hiruma is all set to face the Christmas Bowl. But Mamori still hasn't gotten over how Hiruma had used that long forgotten bet to keep her from stopping him playing despite his fracture. So he decides to find a way to bring her good spirits back...

**Notes:** If I think about it, it's been a while since I wrote Hiruma and Mamori when they're in Deimon. Been writing a lot of HiruMamo when they're in Saikyoudai, so the sudden change made me scrap my initial idea for this fic and I had to rewrite it to get them right.

Written for the "Sports" prompt for HirumaxMamori in DA, I got the idea for this after a short brainstorming session with Elis who asked me if Mamori was every a "Sporty" person. I explained to her the various scenes where you do see Mamori play, and so the idea came from that. My initial idea was a little more melancholic as I focused quite a bit on Hiruma's fracture. But in this new version, I decided to remove all that drama and keep it to just Hiruma and Mamori bantering with each other, something that I missed and loved about this pairing. I hope you'll enjoy it though! ^^

* * *

Hiruma walked slowly towards the Deimon Devil Bats clubhouse, his right arm stuck in a thick cast, hanging by the front of his chest. He had finally been discharged from the hospital after their game against the Hakushuu Dinosaurs, and it was tempting not to throw out some blackmail material at the doctors to get him out faster. But everyone in the Football Team insisted Hiruma took his time to recover. And so he stayed there for 3 long days before deciding he had enough and that he had to get out.

Finally reaching the clubhouse, he opened it to find Anezaki Mamori, the club manager sweeping the floor with that broom she seemed strangely fond of. The moment the door slid open, Mamori turned and gasped at the sight of him. "Hiruma-kun! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you still be in the hospital?"

"Taken enough rest already," he said flatly. "Gotta prepare the fucking team for our biggest challenge to come… The Christmas Bowl."

Mamori put the broom aside, walked towards him and forced him to sit on one of the chairs nearby. "Really, the team will be all right. You already gave me instructions for things to prepare and it's all done. If you ever had more instructions, you know you could pass it to me and I can handle it."

"No can do, Fucking Manager," said Hiruma, secretly thankful for the rest as his arm was beginning to throb. "I have big plans in mind and I have no intention on just sitting back."

Mamori frowned deeply, but didn't fight back. Not only was it pointless to order around the Devil Quarterback, but since she had lost that bet back at the Hakushuu Dinosaurs game, she knew he merely had to bring it up to silence her. Resigned to just accept that Hiruma was still keen to move around despite his fracture, she picked her broom back up and continued sweeping, with a little more vigour than usual.

Hiruma knew Mamori must have still felt bitter about that bet, judging by her silence. He knew it was a big risk, bringing up that bet again after many, many months of leaving it hanging and forgotten. But he needed to do it to ensure they got through to the Christmas Bowl. And since they did, Mamori could not say he made a mistake. Although he can't deny that she was still worried about his fracture, being the first to literally drag him, with Musashi driving, to the nearest hospital.

Curious to see how far he could push her on this, as well as figure her out more, he decided to do one of the few things he was good at doing. Provoking. "Careful with that broom, Fucking Manager. You're sweeping so hard that you could literally swing it out of your hands."

Mamori glared back at him. "I have you know I handle this broom just fine, Hiruma-kun," she said with a light tone of annoyance.

"I bet you do," he grinned, leaning back against the chair a little more. "Pretty much did a homerun using that broom back at the Tokyo Dome, didn't you?"

Mamori paused for a moment to figure out what Hiruma meant when the memory of all of them playing baseball just before the game returned to her. She frowned. "It wasn't a homerun!"

Hiruma pretended to think for a moment. "Oh yeah, it wasn't. But you sure knew how to use that broom! You even helped 'clear' the way to first base with it!"

Mamori was now fuming as Hiruma cackled gleefully at the memory of Mamori sweeping towards first base instead of running. Hands on her hips, the broom still tangled between her right fingers, she cried out, "Well, that's what brooms are for isn't it! Stop laughing, Hiruma-kun! It isn't funny!"

Hiruma wiped a tear out of his left eye, the wicked grin still planted on his face. "You'd make an amazing sports woman, Fucking Manager. As long as all the games require brooms, you'd probably 'sweep' the entire field clean to a win!"

She crossed her arms now, looking defiant. "Just because you saw me play baseball with a broom, and because you always see me with a broom sweeping, you automatically think I'm only good at games that require me to hold it?" She walked up to him, each step as heavy as the next. "Did you forget that I played beach football back in California? Was there even a broom nearby?"

"Hmm…" Hiruma pondered, though his face was obviously mocking Mamori. "You're right. You didn't use a broom. But the Fucking Pipsqueak was there, wasn't he? Isn't that how you scored some of the goals?"

Mamori turned red as Hiruma had obviously pointed out how Mamori was even able to score at the time. "They were bullying Sena! And you know how I am when someone bullies him!"

Hiruma cackled gleefully. "So that's your success formula in a game, eh, Fucking Manager? Maybe I should train you too so that you can do a lot more with just that fucking broom alone. No Fucking Pipsqueak to be your little aide to success!"

Mamori held the broom out before her, jabbing it on the floor with annoyance, her blue eyes glaring right into his green eyes and said, "Oh, this broom can do a lot more than you think, Hiruma-kun. After all, you can shoot at me as much as you want and not a single bullet would touch me."

Hiruma was about to retort that he uses fucking rubber bullets, but he had to admit, it takes talent to be able to take ALL his bullets. With this in mind, he grinned. "You got me on that one," he admitted as he thought about what she said more. "Well, isn't that interesting…"

Mamori blinked, already confused by Hiruma's sudden acceptance of defeat in that angle. "What's interesting?"

"Looking back, there's always been a game between you and me, isn't it?" Hiruma pointed out. "And if I think about it, you've been winning quite a bit in that department."

Mamori stared at him, her mouth dropping a little as he stared confidently back, curious to see her reaction. She merely held the broom closer to her and continued sweeping as she said, "But I don't always win."

"Just like in every sports, you don't always win, Fucking Manager," said Hiruma, sneering a little. "But what you could do, is to take your revenge, and fight to win once more."

Mamori stopped sweeping and slowly turned to look at Hiruma, a look of total disbelief painted on her face. "Is that… a challenge?"

"Take it however you want it, Fucking Manager," said Hiruma, leaning back against the chair once more. "I'll look forward to our next little 'game'."

Mamori resisted the urge to laugh. It was so typical of Hiruma to take everything as a challenge. As much as it was annoying at times, Mamori had to admit… This was one challenge she didn't mind taking on. "Very well, then," she simply said, smiling as she finished off sweeping the clubroom.

Hiruma grinned, hiding the fact that he was secretly glad that Mamori was back to her usual self, and that she wasn't going to take every crap he'd throw at her. It wouldn't be the Fucking Manager without it. Deciding it was time to change the topic, he said, "Did you book the ship?"

Mamori nodded, remembering that they were celebrating their win, as well as them finally being in the Christmas Bowl, tonight. "Got all the tuxedos and dresses ready… just waiting for everyone to get in and get ready."

"You got everything else prepared, right?"

Tying up the garbage bag and putting it aside, she said, "You mean your entertainment plans? It's all set."

"Good," he said, knowing for sure that Mamori had everything prepared. Then another thought crossed his mind as their earlier conversation resurfaced, and his grin grew even wider. "Fucking Manager…" he said.

Mamori looked at him and crossed her arms. "Don't tell me you have more planned for tonight?"

Hiruma cackled. "Oh, just one more little game I thought I'd throw in."

"Game?" went Mamori, confused by Hiruma's sudden burst of glee.

"Yeah, a game that you would love tremendously… Though you'd probably have to worry about your weight for this one."

Mamori's eyes were now fixated on Hiruma. "My… weight?"

"Fucking Manager," said Hiruma as he reached into his left pocket and tossed his phone towards her. Mamori caught it easily as she came to sit next to him. "Call Kariya. Make an order for as many creampuffs as you want. Tonight, let's put you in a sport that you're really good at. No brooms, no Fucking Pipsqueak. Although the Fucking Fatty would gladly join you."

Mamori almost dropped the phone in shock. She stared at the phone, then back at Hiruma. Then she smiled, waving the phone and said, "All right then. So this 'game' of yours that you had in mind… if I win, can we cancel your last win out?"

Hiruma cackled, leaning forward towards Mamori with a glint of amusement in his eyes. "Fine then. And if you lose… the win stays. I must warn you, the Fucking Fatty can sure eat."

"I won't lose when it comes to creampuffs!" huffed Mamori, as she hurriedly dialed the number for Kariya. Hiruma watched as she made an order for over a hundred creampuffs. Musing to himself, he concluded that even though American Football was his most favourite sport of all, Anezaki Mamori sure comes close in a different kind of game. And it looks like he'll be having a lot of fun as long as she's around.

* * *

**Extra Notes:** How many of you remembered that during their celebrations on the ship there was a creampuff eating competition on board? XD I really hope you enjoyed this though!


	11. Honmei Choco

**Title:** Honmei Choco

**Summary:** Mamori had been giving out giri choco all her life, but it may now be time that she made a chocolate more honest to her feelings of a certain someone.

**Notes:** Valentine's Day may have passed, but let's keep all those lovey dovey feelings strong this month, shall we? As my fic seems insistent to keep the fluff going strong in this one.

Written for the HirumaxMamori DA's "Valentine's Day" prompt, I took inspiration from an episode of Lovely Complex that pointed out that there were two types of chocolates that Japanese girls give out to guys on Valentine's Day. The first is Giri choco or obligation chocolate, given out to classmates, friends, colleagues and the like. And then there's Honmei choco, which as wikipedia states, means "true feeling chocolate". That one is reserved for someone you love the most, of course. So I played around with this idea, and this fic formed.

I cannot express how much I love Elis who took the time to edit through this fic and polish it up for me. THANK YOU!

I really hope you guys enjoy this! And nom some chocolate while you're at it too. XD

* * *

Mamori heaved the heavily laden shopping bags onto the kitchen counter, letting out a sigh of relief. Shopping was finally done with, and it had turned out to be more stressful than she had expected, no thanks to her hyper, happy skater friend.

Said friend named Suzuna had asked Mamori to go Valentine's Day shopping with her tugging on Mamori's heartstrings with her insistence that she needed help. Mamori, unable to deny a friend in need, readily agreed, happy to lend assistance to the girl who had finally begun dating her childhood friend, Sena.

And so they had done just that today – shopping for cooking materials to make chocolates for everyone. But to Mamori's surprise, Suzuna wanted to make something beyond just the usual chocolates.

"I want to make honmei choco," the petite girl announced as she flitted between aisles of various cooking chocolates available.

Mamori, well aware of what honmei choco was, just nodded in absent-minded agreement already going through recipes in her head to help the younger girl out until the Suzuna turned on her heel and made another alarming announcement. "You should make one, too, Mamo-nee."

Mamori sighed once more, thinking back on the day's events. Then she began to unpack the contents of the shopping bag, and pulled out the high grade chocolate Suzuna had insisted she buy.

Honmei choco… huh?

Of course, Mamori was well aware who Suzuna was referring to that Mamori should present her honmei choco to. The girl had been badgering Mamori for years, especially since she joined that person in Saikyoudai.

"Isn't that proof enough that the two of you are inseparable? You two should be more honest with your feelings!"

And thus the best way of being honest was through honmei choco? Mamori bit her lip, still staring at the pack of high grade chocolate. Honmei choco was meant to deliver the creator's true feelings to the recipient, but in all honesty… even Mamori wasn't sure about her own feelings.

Yes, she cared about him and would go to great lengths to support him. But was that love? Or was that just plain loyalty? Is that even worth a honmei choco?

Mamori shook her head, telling herself that she was over thinking things. Mamori had made chocolates for this guy many times before, even for the last Valentine's Day. They were of the giri choco variety that she gave out to everyone. And each year, no matter how much he protested and threatened to throw the chocolate away, she would shove it into his hands or into his locker, ensuring that he took it.

She was never sure if he ate it or if he threw it away, but the chocolates would definitely be gone by the next day.

Mamori put the high grade chocolate aside and pulled out the other ingredients preparing to make giri choco. There's no use thinking about him now… she might as well focus on making chocolate for those she was sure would accept it gladly.

It didn't take long for Mamori to complete her task even though she was making enough chocolates for practically 3 football teams. But with her skills as a cook and foresight to plan ahead, she finished and set the giri chocos to cool and settle in less than 2 hours. There was still plenty of time today.

She decided she'd earned a well-deserved break and made herself a cup of coffee. Cupping the warm mug in her hands, she sat at the kitchen table with a contented smile on her face up until her eyes roved to the kitchen counter. The high grade chocolate and its presence continued to haunt her thoughts. She groaned, resting her head on her arms.

"_Oi, Fucking Manager…__ stop crying…"_

_But tears continued to stream down her face as she bandaged Hiruma's swollen arm. "Idiot… You are such an idiot…" she muttered._

_He let out a low cackle, though there was an obvious strain in his voice. "You can call me that all day long, Fucking Manager. It won't change a thing."_

_Silence settled between them as Mamori continued to work on the bandage. There were distant cries of a crowd, cheering on what could mean another touchdown. Whose touchdown, neither was sure._

"_Fucking Manager…"_

"_I'm almost done, hold on."_

"_No… I've got to tell you something…"_

Mamori stirred, lifting her head up. She blinked as she looked at her surroundings. That was a dream, huh? She glanced at the time and noticed that it was already well into the night. Her giri choco was definitely done by then. But the honmei choco…

The dream lingered in her mind for a moment. When did that dream occur? That was during last year's game, she was sure of it. He had purposely gotten himself injured to help the team score a touchdown. If she remembered correctly, it was partially her fault as well that he had gotten injured. She had been really demoralized during that game, but something he said brought her back stronger… and she'd watched them win that game.

What did he say? Mamori unconsciously placed a hand on her heart, feeling the strange rhythm it was making. Then the next thing she knew, she was at the kitchen, chopping the high grade chocolate, with only one thought in mind…

Releasing those feelings within her.

Valentine's Day came around, and Mamori, equipped with a bag filled with chocolate, was kept busy all day running around giving out all the giri choco she had made. She visited the Takekura Babels football team first and it was funny to see such big, strong men fighting to get more of Mamori's chocolates. As usual, she had an especially hard time with Kuroki finally fending him off when all the chocolates were given out.

Musashi, too, accepted the chocolates. "Are you giving any to him?" he asked.

"Him…? Oh…" Mamori looked at the bag filled with chocolates. "Well… Maybe…"

Musashi merely nodded, not caring to explain himself. Mamori wondered if there was a reason for his asking, but pushed the silly thought away.

Once she was done, she dropped by Enma and was greeted by even more people who were glad to see her.

"Mamori-san's chocolates are always the best," Riku complimented her as he opened the little package and ate one of the chocolates.

"MUKYA! I COULD DIE HAPPY!" cried Monta as he happily ate his share.

"Thank you, Mamori-nee-chan," said Sena as he took the package from her. Mamori couldn't help but notice that Sena already had a bigger package of chocolates in his left arm.

She smiled. "Did Suzuna make that for you?"

Sena blushed in response. Stuttering, he nodded a yes. Then he held the box closer to him, with a gentle smile on his face and said, "It's always good to know how she feels about me."

Mamori could not help but feel a motherly sense of pride of Sena and Suzuna. They'd started out feeling so worried, so uncertain. But they were pulling through slowly, until no one could deny the affection between them any longer.

Sena caught her attention once more as he asked, "So did you make one too? A honmei choco?"

Mamori blinked in surprise. "How did you know?"

Sena pointed at the bag of chocolates she was carrying, where one package looked slightly different and larger than the others. Mamori groaned inwardly. She had buried that package deep beneath the other chocolates on purpose, but having given out so many chocolates, there was no way of hiding this one.

"Is there someone you're giving it to?" Sena asked.

Mamori stared at the honmei choco she made, doubts still filling her mind. Then she turned to Sena and said, "Yes, though I'm not sure he'll even take it."

It was a dead giveaway on who the chocolate was for. But Sena smiled in return and said, "I'm sure he'll accept it, Mamori-nee-chan. It's your true feelings after all."

Mamori left Enma, with Sena's words in her mind now. It often seemed as though everyone was quite aware about her feelings for that particular person, even though she herself wasn't sure if they meant anything.

Well, it must mean something if it got her to finish the honmei choco…

She reached Saikyoudai to even more excited cheers. The Wizards, who were at the field, eagerly snapped up all the chocolates, and gushed over how out of all the chocolates they have ever received, Mamori's was the best. Even Ikkyu couldn't help but shiver with joy as he took a bite out of Mamori's chocolate.

Mamori smiled at the scene before her as Yamato approached her, taking a bite out of the chocolates he had received from Mamori. "If you're looking for him, he's in the clubhouse."

Mamori stared at Yamato for a moment, but he merely winked at her and went to join the others. He called out for a huddle, ensuring that Mamori was left alone so she could be on her way.

Knowing there was no avoiding it now, she headed towards the clubhouse.

As she had expected, he sat at the table, legs stretched out and propped on the tabletop, his laptop placed firmly on his lap. He glanced at Mamori as she came in, then his eyes settled on the screen before him once more. "Don't tell me you have one for me, too, Fucking Manager."

Mamori frowned. "Just like the year before and the many years before that… yes, Hiruma-kun. I have one for you, too."

"Does that mean I have to repeat myself like the year before and the many years before that, Fucking Manager?"

"You could, but it will all end the same." Mamori placed the last and final chocolate she had made on top of the table. "But I made this for you and no one else. So take it, and then you can do whatever you want with it. I'll go change, you can start the practice first."

Mamori left the clubhouse with her heart racing. She felt her face getting more flushed, and she scolded herself for it. Stupid, it's just a chocolate! JUST A CHOCOLATE!

When she came back on the field, prepped and ready, it didn't take long for her to notice that there was a slight change in Hiruma as he barked orders and participated in practices. He felt strangely distant, as though he was contemplating over something. During a short break, she checked the clubhouse to see what had happened to the honmei choco… but it had completely disappeared. Not even the package she'd used could be found.

What happened to it?

The thought nagged at the back of Mamori's mind until practice was finally over. Everyone was eager to leave to be with either their girlfriends or join in singles' parties. Soon it was just Mamori and Hiruma who went through today's plays while Mamori cleaned up.

Not a word was spoken about the honmei choco, and Mamori was close to giving up on the matter. It was late, and just like all the years before had proven, making chocolates for Hiruma was useless.

As she reached for her bag that signaled she was getting ready to leave, Hiruma finally spoke up. "That fucking chocolate you gave today…"

Mamori's hand rested on her bag as she held back a gasp. Keeping her eyes averted from him, she clutched her bag and asked, "What about it?"

Hiruma was silent for a few seconds. She could hear his fingers tapping on the keyboard, a strange rhythm echoing through the room. "It's different from the ones you used to make."

Mamori couldn't hide her shock anymore. She turned to look at Hiruma, wide eyed in disbelief. "W-what? Wait… does that mean you…"

"Did you really think I'd let your efforts go to waste, Fucking Manager?" He stopped typing to look at her. "Yes, I fucking ate all those chocolates you used to give me. But you were smart enough to make it dark chocolate and it was bitter. That wasn't the case with today's chocolate."

Like a child caught red handed, Mamori stood there with her head hanging low. Oh no… she panicked. Oh no… she had completely forgotten that she would always buy dark chocolate for Hiruma. All that worrying about honmei choco had flustered Mamori so much that she'd bought high grade MILK chocolate instead.

"I'm sorry…" she muttered, shifting her weight nervously. "I must have been so distracted lately. I'll make another one for you tonight, I promise."

"No need," he quickly said. "Don't need any more of your fucking chocolate slip ups."

Those words felt like a stab through her heart. Her honmei choco… was a slip up?

"Because I'm pretty sure you have your reasons for making this one," he finally added as he put his laptop away.

"Eh?" Mamori blinked as she looked at Hiruma, who was now approaching her. "What do you mean?"

They both looked at each other, eye to eye. "That chocolate had that flavour for a reason. Flavours inspire damn feelings but food shouldn't fucking contain them. As fucking stupid as this sounds, it tasted warm and…" Hiruma hesitated to continue, looking slightly frustrated. "Just what were you trying to do with that chocolate?"

Mamori swallowed, wondering what to do. Is that what he thought about her chocolate? Was it really a failure? But he had been acting strangely lately. Taking a deep breath, she decided that there was no use lying to him if he had already caught on that something was different. "It was honmei choco."

"Honmei choco?" Hiruma was taken aback for once.

"Yes… even though it didn't quite turn out the way I had expected… but I'd like to think what I really felt was in there. When you injured your arm again and I was partly to blame, you told me to believe in the team and in my abilities especially. I didn't want you to go back to that field but… That moment made me realize that you're important to me, and that you mean a lot to me."

Hiruma grinned widely, though Mamori couldn't help but notice that there was definitely a genuine smile at the corner of his lips. "So that's what it was…"

Mamori sighed. "I'm sorry, I won't make the same mistake again."

Hiruma noticed the dejected look on her face. "… I didn't say the slip up was a bad thing, Fucking Manager," he mumbled.

"Hmm?" went Mamori, who didn't catch what he had just said.

But Hiruma didn't repeat himself. Instead, he went to pack his laptop. "Keh, resorting to such a crazy tradition to make your feelings known… on fucking Valentine's Day too!" he cackled.

"It's not funny! But I guess it is kinda of clichéd…" she shrugged, though she couldn't hold back a grin at this point.

"It fucking is! But seeing as you're taking the clichéd route, I might as well return the favour…" Hiruma shrugged picking up his laptop bag.

"Return the favour?" Mamori repeated curiously.

"Of course, it's fucking White Day next month," he said, grinning as he walked past Mamori. "Now, are you going home or not, Fucking Manager?"

Mamori stood dazed for a moment, wondering if Hiruma's words really meant what she thought they meant. Then she rushed after him, and they both walked home together, talking idly about the next game, the honmei choco completely forgotten until next month finally came.

And it was when they finally became truly honest with each other, that Hiruma and Mamori finally become official.


	12. Bubblegum

**Summary: **All it takes is an extra pack of bubblegum to get Hiruma in an amusing situation he's not likely to forget anytime soon.

**Notes: **I LIIIIIIVE! *gets shot* D8 Okay, yes, I've been alive all this while. But dear gawd, how I shied away from writing fic for a couple of months. I apologize if you've been waiting for anything new from me. I'll do my best to get back to them now that I've got my muse back. YAAAY! But for how long, I'm not sure...

Anyways, troubles aside, this fic is dedicated to the amazing Honey-Bee89 on DA. It was her birthday a couple of months back and I asked if she wanted any one shots from me and her prompt was "bubblegum". I changed the initial idea she gave me a little, but hopefully it's still something that she'll like. I'm so sorry for the delay!

I hope the rest of you guys enjoy it! ^^

* * *

Hiruma Youichi was working on some of the data he collected on Shinryuuji Naga when he heard the clubhouse door open. The sound of familiar, quick footsteps reached his pointy ears. He didn't bother to tear his eyes away from the data immediately knowing who it was.

"Hiruma-kun?" a voice called out to him. "Ah, are you busy right now?"

He heard the rustling of a plastic bag. "Did you buy what I asked you to get, Fucking Manager?"

Hiruma could tell Anezaki Mamori frowned the moment he called her that. He grinned, knowing exactly what was going through her head without so much as a glance at her. She had repetitively asked him to stop calling her that, but it was obviously a futile effort. By her lack of retort, he guessed she too knew it was a worthless fight. Instead, she replied "I think I did."

"You _think_?" Hiruma finally stopped looking at the data to look at the items Mamori had just pulled out of the bag.

"You mentioned there was a certain brand of gum that you wanted, right?" she said as she showed him two packs of gum. They both looked similar, but they were different brands for sure. "But I saw that there was this new sugarless gum and I wondered if it was something you would want too."

Hiruma glared at her for a moment before finally taking one of the packs and began tearing it open. "Fucking Manager, a little advice the next time you buy me gum. When I say I want ONE type of gum, I really do mean one. I don't need your fucking 'what if's or 'maybe'."

"Don't be mean, Hiruma-kun!" Mamori pouted as she took a seat in front of him. "I really thought you might be interested in that new gum! Now what am I supposed to do with the other one?"

"Fuck if I care," he said, unwrapping one gum and casually put it in his mouth. "You can have it."

He could sense Mamori's eyes shooting lasers into the back of his head, but it only served to amuse him more as he cackled. He began to chew and decided it was best to keep working on the data he got. Just as he was reading up one of Shinryuuji's game tactics, he sensed Mamori's gaze on him had changed. Curious, he looked at Mamori who was now looking at him with a sort of wonder in her eyes.

He wondered what exactly was causing that when he realized he had just blown a bubble from the gum he was chewing earlier. Blowing bubbles was almost instinct for him whenever he was thinking that he wondered why Mamori would even find such a thing interesting. But there she was, eyes wide with fascination.

Hiruma popped the bubble and began to chew again as he asked, "What?"

Almost like a gasp, Mamori replied, "It's… big."

Hiruma almost swallowed his gum when he heard that. "HUH?"

Mamori blinked as she clasped a hand over her mouth. Obviously, she didn't mean to say that out loud. "I meant your gum! Th-that bubble gum that you blew just now!"

Hiruma raised an eyebrow by Mamori's strange fascination. "Fucking Manager, this isn't the first time you've seen me blow a bubble before."

"I know that!" Mamori quickly retorted. "But you told me that I could have this gum, and so I thought about taking one and blowing a bubble gum too. But I've never done it before and so I watched you just now and…"

Mamori turned so red Hiruma thought she could just melt or evaporate at any second. Very amused at this point, Hiruma began to laugh really hard, causing Mamori to fluster even more.

"S-stop laughing at me! I mean it!" she cried, hiding her face behind both her hands now. "I didn't mean it in that way! Oh no, I can't believe this!"

Hiruma laughed even more until tears clearly streamed down his face. Wiping them off with glee, he finally calmed down to look at Mamori, who was still hiding behind her hands. "Oi, Fucking Manager."

"Stop calling me that!" she cried weakly behind her hands.

"You want to learn how to blow bubble gum?"

She was silent for 3 seconds before she parted her fingers to reveal one blue eye, looking at Hiruma curiously. "You mean you'll teach me?"

"Well, since you have that extra pack of gum, I might as well teach you how to use it," he replied, though he was still grinning widely.

Mamori hesitated, though she had now finally lowered her hands. "You're not teasing me right now, are you?"

"Does it look like I'm teasing you?" he cackled.

"Well, you're still grinning at me… and that grin of yours always means you're up to no good."

"Oh, come now, Fucking Manager," said Hiruma, sounding a little hurt. "Do you really think me teaching you how to blow a measly fucking gum is no good?"

Mamori thought about this hard for a moment. He could see she was still hesitating a lot before she finally settled her resolve and looked straight at him. "Fine. Just no funny stuff, okay?"

"I should say that to you after that nice little comment you gave."

"Stop that!" she cried. "I really don't want you to bring that up again!"

Hiruma cackled even more. "All right! Fine! I'll fucking stop! Now do you want to learn or not?"

Mamori pouted before slowly nodding.

"Good. Take out one of the gum and start chewing."

"I know that much!" she cried as she opened the new pack of gum, took one out and began to chew.

"Now chew it until it's soft," he instructed, Mamori nodded and munched on the gum eagerly. Barely a minute later, he could tell she was done and so he continued. "Now roll the gum into a ball in your mouth. Done? Now put that on the tip of your tongue and push the gum back with your teeth so that it covers only that tip of your tongue."

Mamori struggled with this for a moment, before finally nodding to indicate that she thinks she got it.

"Okay, now slowly push the gum forward with your tongue and let the gum stick to your teeth, part your lips and blow."

Mamori blew a little too fast so all that happened was the gum popped even before she could form a bubble. "Darn!" she said as she chewed the gum all over again.

Hiruma cackled. "Well, I didn't think it would work straight away. You've got to know the right thickness of the gum so that it can expand."

Mamori pondered over this before saying, "So I basically have to stretch the gum across my tongue so that it can be some kind of mini balloon that I can blow into a bubble?"

Hiruma shrugged though he grinned in amusement at Mamori's line of thought. "I guess you could see it in that way."

"I see…" said Mamori, as she chewed slowly. "I'll keep trying."

As Mamori chewed, he could tell she was trying to spread the gum across her tongue. At that moment, he reached out and placed a hand on Mamori's chin. "Show it to me."

"Eh?" she breathed as it was obvious the gum was now wrapped on her tongue.

"Show me the fucking gum on your tongue."

He could tell Mamori was so tempted to argue with him at that very moment by the sheer fire in her eyes. But the gum on her tongue prevented her from doing so. This was priceless as Hiruma tried really hard not to laugh, so he focused on Mamori's mouth, and the feel of her chin on his fingers. They were soft under his touch…

And he wondered, for that split moment, if Mamori's lips were the same as well.

Before his mind could elaborate on that thought, Mamori slowly stuck her tongue out to show it to Hiruma. He was filled with glee at this point. This would be such great blackmail material to add to the ones he already has, though deep inside he knew he would never really need it with her. Pulling his mind back to the task at hand, he looked at the gum and said, "You're spreading it too thinly. Try to keep it thick, especially at the very tip of your tongue. That's where it has to expand the most after all."

Mamori's eyes widened with understanding as she quickly pulled her tongue back in and chewed furiously. Hiruma dropped his hand and watched with amusement as Mamori tried one more time. She puckered her lips, and then blew…

It expanded barely a few inches before popping straight on her lips. But it was enough to make Mamori jump excitedly. "I did it! Yes, I did it! Well, it wasn't that big but I still did it!"

Hiruma cackled. "Well, isn't that fucking grand? Getting all excited just because you blew a gum."

"It's an achievement for me, being able to figure that out," huffed Mamori. "I don't usually chew gum after all. It's not something I'm fond of, chewing endlessly on something that isn't exactly filling."

"So why did you fucking take one and tried to blow a bubble to boot?" he asked curiously.

Mamori shrugged a little as she got up from her seat and said, "I guess I just wanted to understand you a little more."

For once, Hiruma was so stunned he had no comeback. By the time he figured out he should resume his evil, teasing self, Mamori already had her apron on and began to sweep the clubhouse, still chewing on the gum. Chewing on his own gum, he couldn't help but feel a little touched by Mamori's gesture despite how he constantly gave her hell. Sure, it was one of her known traits, but it was still a surprise that she would try to understand him, the one person she had warned Sena just a few months ago to stay away from.

Blowing the gum into a large bubble, he decided to get back into more serious matters like the data on Shinryuuji. But he couldn't deny the fact that his heart was beating a little differently at that very moment. Life was going to be interesting from now on.

_**POP!**_


	13. Babysitter

******Summary:** Mamori takes up babysitting to earn some extra cash, or so she says. Hiruma knows why she's doing it, and intends to confront her on it.

**Notes:** OMG, I owed Bar-Ohki this fic for such a freaking long time... 6 months! So many things happened since that month so this got delayed quite a bit. Anyways, her prompts were "Babysitter" OR Everclear's "Learning How To Smile" (YouTube it!). But I decided to try and mix them both up... this was the result. I'm sorry if it turned out a little too melodramatic than it should, but I did my best with this.

Hopefully, Bar-Ohki! Same goes to everyone else!

* * *

Mamori quietly rocked the sleeping infant in her arms, breathing an inward sigh of satisfaction. It had taken a lot of coaxing and distracting to get the little baby boy to stop crying, but it all paid off. The infant snuggled into her chest and took small, deep breaths of comfort and deep sleep.

She hadn't expected to get a babysitting job so soon. Having only advertised two days ago, it was a surprise when someone requested her services almost right after. Determined to do a good job, she took it instantly, not realizing how nerve wrecking it would be to babysit another person's child. They'd placed an innocent child into her hands for protection, and she would do all it takes to ensure that.

Feeling very proud of a job well done so far, Mamori was about to place the baby in his cot when she heard a knock on the door. A glance at the clock told her it was still too early for the parents to have returned. Her heartbeat quickened as her mind raced through all the possible options of who it could be. A robber? A kidnapper? A con man?

Mamori quickly placed the infant in his cot. She watched him gurgle in disapproval at being removed from the warm body that enveloped him earlier, but Mamori quickly placed a pillow next to the baby and patted him on his back to soothe him. The knocking grew louder and it caused her to panic. That would surely wake the baby up.

Once the baby became a little more still, Mamori rushed towards the door, grabbing a broom along the way. Whoever it was, she was sure he meant trouble. Taking a deep breath, she reached for the door knob and swung it open.

"Took you long enough, Fucking Manager."

The sight of the blonde demon-like boy before her caught her by surprise. "Hiruma-kun! What are you doing here?"

Hiruma shrugged but glanced at the broom in her hand. He grinned. "Were you planning to beat me up with that?"

"What?" Mamori looked at the broom. "No! It's just that… wait! What are you doing here to begin with? Shouldn't you be at that meeting with those other players from America?"

Hiruma's grin faded for a fraction of a second, but returned wider than before. "Fuck that for now. I heard you were babysitting and I couldn't help but envision a house in total chaos."

Mamori placed one hand on her hip in defiance. "Well as you can see, the house is still intact, Hiruma-kun."

"To be expected from the great Fucking Manager of the Deimon Devil Bats and the Saikyoudai Wizards, I suppose?" Hiruma cackled.

Mamori frowned for a moment and was about to retort when a weak cry reached her ears. "Oh no!" Mamori cried, exasperated as she turned to where the baby was crying. She looked at Hiruma as she rushed towards the cot. "Look, you can come in but you can't stay long!"

Hiruma grinned as he walked in and closed the door. "Of course… Don't want the Fucking Brat's parents to know that the babysitter brought the devil in to their home."

"Hiruma-kun!" Mamori cried out angrily at his words. It was one thing to call the baby a brat, but making it seem as though people disapproved of him in general was uncalled for, though she had no time to argue with him. She scooped the crying baby into her arms and began to rock him gently. "There, there, Shuuji…" Mamori cooed, as the baby's cries softened. He seemed content to be held in Mamori's arms and while he'd stopped crying, his eyes were now wide open.

"Doesn't look like he'll fall asleep anytime soon…" said Mamori with a sigh. She turned towards Hiruma who was looking at her in a strange sort of manner, as if the sight captivated him though his gaze was intense. "Hiruma-kun?"

"I need to talk to you," he suddenly said, his face now serious.

Mamori pressed her lips together. Just as she suspected, he was here to talk about something important. Walking out of the room, she said, "We can talk in the hall."

Hiruma followed her and he sat on the couch as Mamori stood nearby, rocking the baby gently. They were silent for a moment, before Hiruma finally spoke up. "There's a reason you took up this babysitting job, isn't it?"

Mamori blinked in surprise. His question made her stop for a moment, causing the baby to moan in protest. She began to rock him softly once more, her eyes downcast. "Isn't it obvious? It's so that I can gain more experience to be a Kindergarten teacher…"

"You're fucking lying," he said, as he sat back on the couch, his gaze sharp.

Mamori glared back at him. Then she looked away and sighed. "How much did you hear?"

"If you're the smart Fucking Manager that I know you are, you can guess by now how I heard about it."

Mamori cursed inwardly. Was there any information that he couldn't blackmail his way to get his hands on? "I don't see what the problem is then…"

"Anezaki," he called out to her as he now got up to walk towards her. "I thought you were smarter than to let some fucking words get to you."

Mamori shifted her gaze, smiling sadly. "Their words didn't get to me. But I can't deny it made me realize how someday we'll both have to part ways… and I couldn't help but wonder… what then?"

Hiruma made no move to say anything. He merely looked at her, and it was a look Mamori couldn't bear. So she continued to talk, "How ridiculous is that, Hiruma-kun? When I stepped into Deimon, I had my future all planned out. And now I realized that there's a lot more in my life that I want to do… That's why I…" Mamori hesitated. She shifted her weight as she continued to rock the baby in her arms.

"That's why you're saving up to go to America someday?" Hiruma finished her sentence.

Mamori looked at the baby in her arms, feeling incredibly embarrassed. A few days ago, a couple of footballers from America were discussing Hiruma and his abilities, how he would do incredibly well if he continued to study and practice in America. But that girl he was always with, that Anezaki Mamori… she might be great, but her ambition was to be a Kindergarten Teacher… which obviously meant that she would be staying in Japan. Hiruma could go places, but Mamori would be anchored here, which ultimately would bring him down.

That was when the prospect of them breaking apart hit Mamori hard. She had a nagging feeling that she had known this would happen all along, but she forced it to the back of her mind and focused on worrying about the present. But with graduation coming soon, and the fact that Hiruma was scouted all the way from America… it became too obvious to ignore.

"It's not just that," said Mamori, sighing a little. "I was hoping that babysitting would help me realize if being a Kindergarten Teacher is what I really want to do." She laughed nervously as she looked at the baby in her arms, his eyes still wide open. Then she turned to Hiruma. "What do you think? Think I'll make a great Teacher?"

Hiruma grinned, clearly amused by the question. "If you could handle those Fucking Idiots in the Deimon Devil Bats, children should be nothing for you, Fucking Manager."

"Hiruma-kun!" Mamori scolded, but she couldn't help but smile and laugh softly. The baby gurgled, just curiously. "Hey, Shuuji, did you hear that? The greatest Quarterback in Japan has told me that I'll make a great Kindergarten Teacher…"

"Let's run away."

Mamori froze in her spot, the words slowly sinking in. She slowly looked at Hiruma, clearly surprised and confused. "What?"

Hiruma grinned widely. "You heard me… let's run away."

"Wait, no!" Mamori cried out, causing the baby to whimper in surprise. She quickly rocked the baby, shushing it before finally speaking quickly, "We can't just run away! There's so much we have to do now! I have to finish my studies to be a Kindergarten Teacher… and aren't you trying to join that Football Team from America?"

"Fuck them," he said, and Mamori couldn't help but notice how angry he suddenly looked. "Fucking assholes talk big but their talent's nothing but shit."

"Hiruma! Not in front of Shuuji!" Mamori scolded at Hiruma's cursing.

"He's too young to understand shit!" cried Hiruma.

"You'd be surprised at how well children can perceive these things! I did a study on this once where even a baby in a mother's womb could perceive certain fears and habits and…" Suddenly Mamori shook her head. "Wait, that's beside the point! Hiruma-kun, you know very well how much being in that team would do for you." She sighed, trying to keep her frustrations in order. "You can go far, Hiruma-kun. Your talent as a tactician will grow and you can be a better player than you are now… Don't hold back. Don't run away just because of me. I'll come after you, I promise… just…"

Hiruma stared back at her coldly. She could tell he was thinking deeply about what she had just said. The baby squirmed in her arms, sensing her doubts and fears. Was Hiruma right? Was the team really that bad? But there was only so much Japan could offer…

Then suddenly, a light cackle escaped from Hiruma's lips. "I guess you won't be phased that easily, Fucking Manager."

"Eh?"

"Fine, I'll come back for you," he said, a playful grin on his face. "And the moment I come back, you better be ready to run away with me."

"Stop using those words!" Mamori snapped a little. "It makes it sound like we're… we're…"

Then it struck Mamori. Why Hiruma was really here, why they were arguing and why he insisted on running away… She couldn't help but smile as she came to that realization. Warm feelings blossomed within her. "So that's why you're here…"

"And why am I here, Fucking Manager?" he said, his grin growing wider.

"To remind me that I can make my own decisions, regardless of what people say or think," she said, smiling softly. "Really, Hiruma-kun, you could have done that in a nicer way."

He cackled. "Not my style, Fucking Manager. Besides, I got the answer that I wanted from you earlier. I wanted to make sure that that's what you really want, and not because some fucking idiots are pressuring you to do so."

Mamori looked down, a little ashamed. It definitely wasn't like her at all.

"But I mean it when I say I'll come back for you…"

Mamori raised her eyes to look straight into his. There was a strong resolve in his eyes, one that she knew all too well. "Are you sure that's what you want? It may take years."

"Does it look like I fucking care?" Hiruma began to walk towards her slowly. "Or do I need to reassure you by saying petty little things like you mean so much to me… that I can't see a future without you?"

She blushed at his words. It definitely was strange hearing it from him. "No, you don't have to…"

"Why's that?" Hiruma was very close to her now, almost a breath away.

Mamori laughed a little before replying, "Because I already know." She tilted her head forward and Hiruma instantly pressed his lips against hers, breathing in the moment before finally pulling apart.

"Keh, Fucking Brat's finally asleep."

Mamori looked at the baby in her arms and was surprised that Hiruma was right. The infant was sound asleep and snuggled comfortably in Mamori's arms. "How strange…"

Hiruma stayed with Mamori for a moment before finally deciding to leave. Shuuji's parents would return soon, and despite Mamori's insistence that she didn't mind having Hiruma around, it was true they weren't certain that the couple would feel comfortable at the sight of Hiruma.

As he left, Mamori wondered about the world and how they viewed her relationship with Hiruma. Whether it was strange that she was willing to chase after him, or that he was willing to come back for her. They were so mismatched in a number of ways… but it doesn't matter now. Because as the day they would part draws closer, it became clear of how much they mean to each other.

And when the day they decide to 'run away' comes, a new, exciting journey awaited them both.


	14. Spring Madness

**Summary:** Going out to enjoy the Hanami season never seemed so hard for both Hiruma and Mamori.

**Notes:** Here's my little offering as a thank you for being a featured writer! It is a true honour and I really thank all the amazing support I've been receiving here in the HiruMamo fandom. Thank you! Now on to this story, it's actually a mix of the spring prompt I never completed from the last contest in the HirumaxMamori DA as well as this crack idea I had in mind. The crack idea didn't come out too well as I'm in no position to write something funny in my current state, so I decided to put in the Spring theme to make it a little sweet at least. I apologize if it's too simple or boring. But I really do hope you all appreciate it! Thank you once again!

* * *

The sounds of excited squeals and screams grew closer, causing Mamori's heart to feel like it could leap out of her chest with every beat it took. She clenched on to Hiruma's hand to keep herself steady, waiting for the possible inevitability of being found.

"HIRUMA-SAAAAN!"

"ANEZAKI-SAAAAN!

"WHERE ARE YOU?" were the only audible words she could hear among the loud screams. They were drawing closer now. She knew it was a useless attempt, but she held her breath anyways.

And just as quickly as they appeared below her, they had finally disappeared. "More could be snooping around here soon," Hiruma finally spoke up.

"That means we're pretty much stuck here, aren't we?" Mamori sighed, looking at her surroundings. They were sitting on a rather sturdy tree branch, hidden behind thousands and thousands of Sakura blossoms, a perfect picture for the Spring season. The smell was overpowering at first, but Mamori had now gotten used to them. But being this high, even though it was barely a few feet, did make her feel a little dizzy. "It's a good thing you thought of coming up here, even I wouldn't think of looking here."

Hiruma pointed ahead, "We're close to the place where the old Fucking Deimon members climbed that tree during Hanami, remember?"

Mamori squinted her eyes to look beyond the Sakura blossoms. She then realized that Hiruma was right, the hill towards the temple the Deimon Devil Bats had been to long ago during the Hanami festival was right there. Her face lit up as she exclaimed, "Ah! How nostalgic!"

Hiruma shushed her quickly as a couple of men with DSLR cameras were walking around. Mamori instantly clamped her mouth with one hand, again hoping that despite how futile it was, that they wouldn't be found. Hiruma was still holding on to her hand tightly, as one of the men came closer. If he looked up he would see them instantly...

But the man was called away moments later, and they soon ran off. They breathed easily once again. Mamori laughed nervously, "I never knew the day would come where I'd be running away from the public like a convict!"

"Keh, you should have seen that coming since you fucking started dating me," said Hiruma, though he grinned in amusement.

"But this really is ridiculous," said Mamori, looking around to see if anymore people were coming. "I can understand running away from people who are out to HARM us, but this?"

"Well, if you just let me handle this, we'd be out of this mess in no time," said Hiruma, putting one hand in his pocket and letting his fingertips brush through the pages of his little black book.

Mamori shook her head. "We really shouldn't depend on that book so much! Besides, I'd like to believe all this will end soon enough once the initial news dies down. It always happens that way... I think." Mamori looked around nervously.

"Fine," Hiruma grinned as he leaned back against the tree trunk and pulled Mamori into his arms carefully as she was still dizzy being this high. "We might as well wait since you prefer it that way."

Mamori leaned back against Hiruma's chest, allowing him to wrap his arms around her. It wasn't everyday that he would hold her outside confined walls, and while it really was a strange situation to be in, it was obvious they'd have to make the best of it. And she guessed being held by Hiruma on top of a Sakura tree would count to be pretty romantic enough.

"I really don't get it though..." Mamori finally spoke up. "Why do people want to see us together so much? I mean it's one thing to support our relationship, but to demand photos of us together and continually asking what we do together is pretty much ridiculous."

"Oh, you haven't seen or read what else our fucking fanclub has been up to, especially on the internet," Hiruma replied, cackling a little.

"Wait, we have a FANCLUB?" Mamori exclaimed a little too loudly. She panicked and quickly placed her hands on her mouth once more as Hiruma held her tightly. He scouted around to see if anyone had seen or heard them, but they were once again safe. Mamori sighed in relief. "Are we really that ideal in some way that people would want to see us together that badly?"

"Stop fucking worrying so much," said Hiruma, resting his chin on Mamori's head. "Let them have their fun, we can always have our own little fun, right?"

The hint of deviousness in his voice made Mamori blush. Did he really have to bring that up? "Fine, you're right..." Mamori sighed as she shifted her back against Hiruma's chest. "People can think what they want... as long as they don't really know... everything." Mamori just allowed Hiruma to cackle into her ear. "Let's hope we can get out of here as soon as possible."

"Are you fucking kidding me? You've got to admit, we've got the best seats for Hanami this year," said Hiruma, being rather optimistic.

Mamori looked at the pink veil of flowers before her, and the hill in the distance that brought back fond memories of her time in Deimon. She smiled, as memories of how she and Hiruma were back then flooded through her mind. It felt strange to have their relationship finally out in the open, but spring seemed to mark a new beginning for the both of them, thus it also felt rather apt.

With that in mind, Mamori buried the back of her head into Hiruma's shoulder and whispered "I guess you're right..."

* * *

**Extra Notes:** Just in case you guys may not know, Hanami is this tradition normally celebrated during Spring in Japan that mostly involves sitting under Sakura trees and just... eat, drink and have fun. XD


	15. Summer Festival

**Summary: **Kotarou isn't making Julie's Summer Festival experience any better, but things take a turn for the better the moment she meets two familiar people from Deimon.

**Notes: **Well, well! This is new for me! First of all, this is my submission for the HirumaxMamori DA community and this month's theme "Summer". Being in Malaysia, the only taste of summer I ever get is through the Japanese summer festival called Bon Odori. So based on that experience, I wrote this. I wrote a number of Japanese terms for some of the Japanese summer clothings and food in order to keep the Japanese feel to it, so if you're not sure what they mean, take a quick google! If not, ask me!

I also decided to put in a little twist by writing, for the first time, two characters from the Bando Spiders! They're actually a lot of fun to write so I hope you guys enjoy this. Let me know if there are any OOC moments, or if I've made any mistakes anywhere. It's also been a while since I wrote a long one shot, so I hope you guys enjoy this!

* * *

Julie couldn't help but just stand there, fuming at Kotarou. She didn't care if passersby were shooting her curious stares while others hurried away nervously. The beautiful lights and cheerful atmosphere at the Summer Festival dimmed in comparison to her fury after Kotarou harassed yet another passerby with his challenges for a game of shoot the can.

"Come on!" Kotarou shouted at a man who was trying his best to evade Kotarou and disappear into the thick of the crowd. "I just challenged you and a man's supposed to accept it, not run! That's not smart!"

"Kotarou!" cried Julie, arms crossed in her yellow yukata adorned with white lilies. She didn't care if she crumpled her newly bought yukata at this point. "Can you PLEASE stop doing that? Challenging them will not change anything!"

"Trust me, Julie, winning you that bunny will mean so much more when I'm being challenged!" Kotarou pointed at the stand where the white, fluffy stuffed bunny sat amongst rows of other stuffed toys that, admittedly, did catch Julie's interest. But to have Kotarou causing such a ruckus for it was too much of a hassle at this point.

She sighed. "You've been doing this every year since we were kids… Last year, we invited Akaba and you challenged him so much, he didn't bother to come with us this year."

"That Akaba definitely isn't smart! I wanted that rematch since last year!" Kotarou growled, remembering how he was defeated in every game available during the Summer Festival.

Julie could only sigh in defeat. Despite having known Kotarou's antics for years and having formed many ways to at least counter his stupidity with whacks or distractions, there were moments where she felt completely drained. Coming for this year's Summer Festival with him seemed rather pointless now…

"Sawai-san?" a young, female voice called out.

Julie's train of thought was broken as she began to wonder which of her female acquaintances would call her that. She turned, confused for a moment until she took a good look and with eyes wide, she gasped, "Anezaki-san?"

Anezaki Mamori stood just a distance from Julie, donning a blue yukata with lilac petals floating across it. She was holding a kinchaku of similar pattern to her yukata in one hand. Mamori smiled as she approached her. "It really is you, Sawai-san! I almost didn't recognize you in that yukata!"

"Me too!" Julie eagerly grabbed Mamori's wrists in excitement. "But this is a surprise! You're from Deimon, aren't you? Why would you come all the way to this temple—?"

Julie was cut short as Kotarou had now exclaimed loudly. "YOU!"

Annoyed, Julie turned to see who his latest victim was when she realized he was pointing at Mamori. Was he serious? Julie was about to raise her own kinchaku to whack Kotarou with when she heard a familiar cackle behind her.

"Oh! It's that Fucking loud mouth kicker from Bando Spiders," said Hiruma Youichi, the feared Quarterback and Captain of the Deimon Devil Bats. Julie could barely react to the strange sight before her. Hiruma? Here? At this temple's Summer Festival?

"You may not be Musashi, but since this is not a kicking competition yet something of just as equal worth, I must challenge you, Hiruma Youichi!" cried Kotarou, causing a spectacle once again as curious and amused eyes began were upon him once more. "Let us play shoot the cans!"

Julie couldn't help but smack her forehead in disbelief. This cannot be happening! Kotarou was challenging the most feared Quarterback in all of Japan for goodness sake!

Mamori, too, showed some signs of uneasiness. "Hiruma-kun, I don't think it's a good idea…"

"Why are you so fucking worried, Fucking Manager?" Hiruma grinned at her. "Shooting is my specialty."

Mamori sighed. "That's exactly it!"

"Come on, Hiruma!" Kotarou pulled out his comb and pointed it towards him. "I want to get the best present for Julie! That bunny and the victory of defeating you! I challenge you to get the best present for your little girlfriend right there!"

Mamori blushed and squeaked in protest as Julie opened her mouth to tell Kotarou off, but Hiruma sauntered forward, grinning from ear to ear. "Interesting! I accept your challenge, Fucking Poser."

"SMART!" Kotarou cried as he combed his hair and promptly placed the comb back into his pocket in one dramatic sweep. "Let's go! Get ready to be defeated!"

Hiruma and Kotarou began to walk towards the stall until Mamori cried "Hiruma-kun!" and reached forward to grab Hiruma's hand. Julie could tell from the tone of her voice she was obviously worried, but to her surprise Hiruma merely looked at Mamori, still grinning and seemed to clench her hand a little tighter before letting go and continued to follow Kotarou.

Julie wasn't sure how Mamori looked right now, so she slowly approached her, saying, "Anezaki-san?"

Mamori turned to look at Julie with a smile, her voice with a hint of a giggle. "Looks like boys will be boys, huh, Sawai-san?"

Julie blinked in surprise, but smiled in return. "You're right."

The two girls walked towards the stall as Hiruma and Kotarou paid ¥100 each to the owner and picked up a toy sniper. "I hope you're ready to lose, Hiruma!" cried Kotarou.

"Kekeke, in your fucking dreams," said Hiruma as he began to aim at the cans.

Julie shook her head and decided she was better off chatting with Mamori. "But it really is a surprise to see you and Hiruma-san in this temple! Are the other Devil Bats here too?"

"Oh no…" Mamori nervously replied. "They already went to the Summer Festival at the temple near Deimon."

"Oh! That's true! The Summer Festival was held there just a few days ago!" Julie cocked her head curiously. "So why come here?"

Mamori smiled nervously. "We… I mean, Hiruma-kun missed the Summer Festival there."

"Eh? He missed it?" Julie exclaimed. "But the two of you are in your third year and it's the Summer holidays! The two of you may be managing the teams, but if the other team members went for the Summer Festival, how is it possible that Hiruma-san missed it too?"

Mamori glanced at Hiruma who was cackling loudly as he had hit his third stack of cans while Kotarou shouted in frustration, obviously losing.

oOo

_The Deimon boys cheered excitedly as they rushed towards the temple and __began to attack every stall available. From chocolate bananas to okonomiyakis, to takoyakis and kakikooris, they bought almost every food available and gathered to eat them all up together._

"_This okonomiyaki is amazing!" cried Kurita as he seemed to swallow 10 at once._

"_Aaaahhh! He's eating it all!" cried Yukimitsu as he looked at the remaining food left._

_Kuroki laughed in triumph. "Hah! I knew this was going to happen! Which is why I bought extra…!" Kuroki turned to point at what was supposed to be the stack of okonomiyakis he'd bought, but it had disappeared. "HAAH?" he shouted as he looked around frantically…_

_Only to find Komusubi wiping his mouth from bits of cabbage and sauce. "YOU! You ate it all!" Kuroki growled._

_Komusubi merely puffed his chest up as he pointed at Kurita and then to himself. "Strong!" was all he said._

"_HOW DARE YOU!" he shouted and lunged forward, but Juumonji and even Togano held him back. "Oi, Kuroki! That's enough!" said Juumonji._

"_Don't fight, boys…" Doburoku-sensei drawled as he took another swig of alcohol, much to almost everyone's disapproval._

_Another familiar voice could be heard in the distance. "I'm going to catch this goldfish! Watch me, my darling sister! Ahaha!" cried Taki as he held a fishnet made out of paper called poi in one hand and a bowl in the other facing a tub filled with many goldfishes._

_Suzuna, dressed in a dark blue yukata and with off white pinwheels scattered across it, merely rolled her eyes. "I don't know why you still try, you fail every year," she said._

"_It will be different this year! I can feel it!" said Taki, smiling brightly. "Ootawara taught me the trick! Aim for the biggest goldfish and swoop in and catch it like a hawk! Watch me now!"_

_Taki eyed the biggest goldfish in the tank. "Ahaha! I got you!" With a splash, Taki's poi dove into the water and quickly appeared into the air. Suzuna gasped as the goldfish struggled on the fishnet. "Look, my darling sister, look! I caught it!" Taki shouted excitedly._

_But Suzuna panicked. "Wait, you have to put it in the—"_

_Too late. The poi's paper net broke and the fish swam back into the safety of the tub. Taki's jaw dropped in horror. Then he stood up dramatically, "IMPOSSIBLE!"_

_Suzuna sighed. "You just never learn…"_

"_Mamori-san!"_

_Mamori turned her gaze away from the funny spectacle to see Monta standing before her, holding out some takoyaki. "I-I-I want you to have some since I noticed you haven't eaten!"_

_Mamori smiled gently. "Thank you, Monta… that is very sweet of you!"_

_Monta turned a deep red as he looked away in embarrassment. "Mamori-san thanking me! With her beautiful yukata on, she is truly the ideal Japanese woman for me! My heart can't take it anymore! MUKYA!" Monta shoved the box of takoyaki and rushed off shouting, "I will get more for you, Mamori-san!"_

"_Ah, Monta!" Mamori cried, but he was too far off. She looked at the takoyakis a little dismally. Something didn't feel right, and she didn't have any appetite because of it._

"_Aren't you hungry?" asked Musashi as he came to sit beside Mamori. He had squid on a stick in one hand and took a bite out of it. They both looked at the atmosphere before them as the Deimon team continued to wreak chaos._

_Mamori shook her head quietly. "Something doesn't feel right…" she said softly, almost letting the words drown in the noise around them. But Musashi heard them well enough._

"_Mamori-nee-chan!"_

_Mamori's quiet gloom disappeared as she replaced her aura with a bright smile. "Sena! What did you get?"_

"_I've got some bouncy balls from one of the games I played!" Sena proudly showed the bouncy balls, ranging from different sizes._

"_That's great, Sena!" Mamori clapped her hands. "You must have a big collection now! You've been collecting that for years since—" Mamori stopped for a moment, placing her fingers across her lips for a moment in deep thought. Then she got up abruptly and passed the takoyakis to Sena. "Make sure you eat these all up, Sena! Take care of the team for me!" Grabbing her kinchaku, she began to push herself through the crowds._

"_Ah! Mamoi-nee-chan? You're going to miss the fireworks!" Sena stood there confused. He turned to Musashi who merely continued to eat his squid. "What's going on?"_

_Musashi merely shrugged._

_Mamori was running now. It was hard to do so with her yukata on, and getas were far from perfect running shoes. She took one of the buses and stopped by Deimon High. She ran past the security who seemed content to let her through and straight towards the clubhouse. And then she threw the door open…_

_To find the blonde demon in his dirty, worn out tracksuit with his arms folded before him on the coffee table and his head resting on them, fast asleep._

_Mamori stood there for a moment to catch her breath. Then she sighed as she approached him. "Idiot."_

oOo

"He's been really busy lately," Mamori explained. "You know how boys are. The moment they focus on one thing, everything else becomes a blur to them."

Julie was curious as to what Hiruma could be busy about, but decided it wasn't her position to pry. "I see…" was all she could say. "So why bring him here? I mean… you could always wait until next year or something like that."

Mamori pondered for a moment. Then she asked, "Don't you think the Summer Festival has a lot of memorable moments? From the first time we tried to scoop for goldfish, to splurging on kakikooris and chocolate bananas. The pinwheels and masks displayed at every corner and the lanterns hanging above us as we try to dive our way through the bustling crowd. And most importantly…" Mamori glanced at Hiruma once more. "The friends and families who share those moments with us."

Julie couldn't help but look at Kotarou at this point. He was spitting in anger right now, as Hiruma continued to beat him. It was a familiar scene to her, that was true and despite her annoyance, she knew it would be strange to see Kotarou not being like this.

"I… didn't want him to miss out on that," Mamori continued. Then she turned a light shade of pink before looking at Julie and said, "That's why I made sure we at least go to the next closest Summer Festival, and it so happened to be here! I can't believe I got to bump into Sasaki-san and you, Sawai-san!"

Julie looked at Mamori and couldn't help but smile in admiration. "You're truly an amazing person, Anezaki-san."

A loud cry pierced through the crowd, causing Julie and Mamori to panic. It was the stall owner Kotarou and Hiruma were at. "Have mercy on me, please!"

The sound of Hiruma's cackling made Mamori panic as she and Julie rushed over. "Hiruma-kun, what's going on?" asked Mamori, looking at the man's terrified face.

Kotarou walked towards them, hunched in defeat. "He pretty much won all the prizes in that stall."

Mamori gasped, and then marched towards Hiruma. "I told you not to overdo it!" she scolded.

"Keh, it's not my fucking fault that this game was ridiculously easy!"

"That's a lie! You knew very well that it was easy!"

"You have no proof of that."

"I don't need it. And you don't need to win the whole stall either!"

"Well, don't you like all these fucking cute stuffed creatures? You can pretty much make them into a bed now instead of letting them sleep with you." He cackled some more.

"Hiruma-kun!" Mamori cried exasperatedly, but her view was suddenly blocked. She blinked as she looked into the beady eyes of a stuffed black teddy bear shoved before her. Confused, she held on to it and noticed that Hiruma had just passed it to her.

"That's all I fucking need," Hiruma said to the stall owner, who breathed a sigh of relief. Mamori was still looking at the stuffed bear until Hiruma put a hand on her back and pulled her closer to him as someone rushed past and almost bumped into her. "Come on, let's get going."

Blinking out of her confusion, Mamori nodded and turned towards Julie. She bowed a little and said, "Thank you for your time! Let's do our best at the next tournament!"

"You too!" Julie waved back and watched as Hiruma and Mamori walked away. She couldn't help but smile in satisfaction at this little encounter as well as her little inside knowledge on the Deimon's Quarterback and Manager.

Then she heard Kotarou clear his throat. Julie turned, only to be face to face with the white bunny Kotarou had promised her earlier. "It didn't come with the victory I hoped for though."

Julie gaped at the stuffed bunny for a while and then couldn't help but burst into laughter. Kotarou was now confused. "What's so funny?"

"You lost just like this when you challenged Akaba last year!" Julie carried on laughing. "You would always boast like an ape, beating your chest in glory as you gave me the toy that you won! But last year you barely even looked at me after Akaba defeated you!"

Kotarou frowned in anger and was about to retort when Julie finally stopped and turned to smile at him. "But I can't deny, that at least seeing you try was both frustrating and rather fun." She took the stuffed bunny from him and gave it a quick squeeze of satisfaction. Then she pulled out her phone from her kinchaku and prompted Kotarou to follow her. "Come on, let's enjoy the rest of the Summer Festival."

"Wait, who are you calling?" Kotarou asked curiously.

"Akaba," Julie replied.

"WHY?"

"Convincing him would be tough but…" Julie smiled as she heard a ringing tone. "It really wouldn't be the Summer Festival if he wasn't around causing chaos with you too."

oOo

"And here I was hoping you wouldn't cause a scene," Mamori sighed, practically dragging her geta across the stony pathway.

"You call that a scene, Fucking Manager," Hiruma grinned. "Besides, that Fucking Show Off was totally asking for defeat. How can I not give it to him?"

Mamori could only sigh once more as they finally found a place to sit on the grass and watch the festivals in the distance. "The fireworks will be starting soon," she said.

"So after this, it's over as promised?" Hiruma asked as he sat down. Mamori sat down not long after, though there was an obvious frown on her face.

"Yes, it's over… as promised…" she said, though it sounded like it was mostly to herself, hugging the stuffed bear Hiruma got her. They sat in the darkness, and if it weren't for the crickets chirping loudly, the silence would have been deafening. Mamori still wasn't sure whether it was a good idea to have asked Hiruma out like this. She must have been out of her mind, thinking that this could help him in some way.

"Hiruma-kun…" Mamori finally spoke up, her voice muffled as she leaned against the stuffed bear.

"What?"

"… You really shouldn't push yourself so hard."

Hiruma looked at Mamori, but could barely see her expression as she hid most of her face behind that bear. "… How much did you find out?"

"Doburoku-sensei was drunk."

"He's always drunk."

"I know. Which is how he told me about your special training…?" Mamori looked at the busy scenery in the distance.

"Keh, so you took advantage of that moment, didn't you? You've turned into a pretty sneaky woman, Fucking Manager," he mused. Mamori kept silent, so Hiruma continued. "Just because I'm not playing this year doesn't mean I'm going to stop altogether, Fucking Manager. There are always bigger dreams to strive for, and I have no intention of relaxing just because it's the summer."

Mamori pressed her face into the stuffed bear, her voice even more muffled. "I know… even so…." Mamori finally raised her head away from the stuffed bear. "I didn't want to see you waste away your summer by pushing yourself too far… which was why I hoped that coming here would help… at least…" Mamori hesitated. Her words to Julie felt vague now, like it lost all its meaning.

Hiruma kept silent, his eyes on the sky. Then he said, "You're awfully clingy to that fucking stuffed bear."

Mamori blinked. "Eh?" She looked at the stuffed bear in her arm and realized that she was still holding on to it tightly.

"Maybe next time I'll get a bigger bear for you, then you can fucking hide yourself behind it whenever you gab like this. And getting to see you so fucking riled up when you thought I took over the whole stall? Priceless! I thought you had gotten used to me all these years, but I must admit, it sure brings me back to see you getting so worked up over shit. I should do that more often!"

Mamori's jaw dropped, she wasn't sure whether to laugh or be angry. "You really are—"

The sound of a whistle whizzing through the air causes Mamori to stop midway. This was instantly followed by a loud bang and big sparks of flower shaped red light fills the air, followed by a blue one and then a yellow one. Different shapes and sizes of fireworks soon filled the sky and she was captivated by it.

She turned to look at Hiruma for a moment who was illuminated by the different colours. He was watching the fireworks intently as well, but turned the moment he realized Mamori was looking at him. And under those sparks of fleeting light, an idea sparked in her mind as well. "I got it! Since you want to do this more, I'll make a yukata for you next year!"

The sound of another firework exploding felt like a punchline to what seemed like a joke. "Huh?" cried Hiruma.

"Don't worry, I've made yukatas for Sena before so I know how to make one for men!"

"I don't need you to start treating me like that Fucking Chibi!"

"I'm not! I just really think you'll look good in one, Hiruma-kun!"

Hiruma was silent for a moment, as if he were contemplating as he watched the rest of the fireworks go off. He seemed to smile in both amusement and contentment at Mamori's offer. As the fireworks finally died down, he said, "Fine, I'll wear your fucking Yukata, on one condition."

Mamori gulped. If Hiruma challenged her at games then…

"I'll buy you 10 choco bananas and 10 takoyakis and I want you to eat them all."

Mamori almost choked on her own saliva, causing her to cough in surprise. He was challenging her… with an eating game? "A-are you sure? I thought you wanted to go back straight after the fireworks?"

"And miss out on the chance to see you pig out? Never!" Hiruma cackled.

"But how will we get back? The last train leaves in about 10 minutes!"

"That's what the Fucking Chameleon is for, Fucking Manager," he grinned at her as he got up, dusting his pants a little. He offered his hand to her. "So what do you say, do we have a deal?"

Mamori frowned at him a little. "It really isn't right that you keep using Habashira-san like that but…" Smiling, she grabbed Hiruma's hand and pulled herself up. "Seeing you in a yukata would be a much better pay off!"

"Kekeke, you're going to get fat, Fucking Manager," he said.

"No, I won't!" Mamori protested but she couldn't hide the smile on her face. After all, next year's summer would have a lot to look forward to!


	16. Ice Skating

**Summary**: Hiruma wasn't keen to be in the ice-skating rink. And he's about to get a painful surprise for actually letting himself be there in the first place.

**Notes: **Oh man, silly, silly stuff right here. I'm sorry if it makes no sense!

This was written for SalamiCC's birthday. I remember really liking this fanart she did for DA HirumaxMamori's "Sports" prompt in January(it's called Clumsy manager…) and have always wanted to write a fic on it. I finally took the time and although I'm a day late, I hope she still likes it! Happy belated birthday, SalamiCC! I really hope you like this!

* * *

Hiruma was unimpressed by the current situation he was in. Time would have been better spent in front of his laptop, working on plays or casually checking out the latest news to keep him updated... heck, he would rather be out on the field on this chilly day getting tackled than to be where he was now.

But no, he was out here stuck in an ice-skating rink with the rest of the Devil Bats team.

It was all thanks to the Fucking Skates who decided she would have her birthday party at the ice rink with everyone. Though many couldn't skate and were hesitant, Fucking Skates always did have a way of convincing people to bend to her will.

Or she had learned a trick or two from him and found a way to blackmail each and every one of them. Including him.

"You HAVE to come to my birthday party!" she told him.

"And why the fuck should I go, Fucking Skates?" Hiruma told her.

"Because it would be fun to have everyone around!" she replied, placing her hands on her hips. "So you better come or I will send Mamo-nee something you wouldn't want her to know."

He had cackled loudly in amusement. "Oh, you want to play that game, huh? Well, I have something you wouldn't want the Fucking Shrimp to know as well..."

Suzuna blushed, but she stood firm. "H-He'll find out about that eventually... and you can try as much as you want to blackmail me, but I'll reach Mamo-nee first before you can do anything."

Hiruma was intrigued by Suzuna's persistence. A move he regretted later on. "Fine, if I don't come for your party, what will happen?"

Suzuna pulled out her phone, showing the screen to Hiruma, and as he looked at it, he knew his fate was sealed.

So there he was standing by the corner with his ice skates on as he watched the rest of the Devil Bats falling countless times on the ice. The Fucking Fatty had fallen in one spot so many times, the worrying cracks had formed on the ice under his weight and a barrier was built to keep people from slipping on the cracks. The Fucking Monkey struggled a lot, but just as he managed to learn how to skate on the ice for a long while, he slipped forward, rolled and did his signature pose without realizing he had gotten rather wet in the process.

The Fucking Ha-Ha Brothers weren't doing any better. They held onto each other's hips, not caring about the weird stares and giggles, moving forward like a train. And every time someone passed by them, one of them would get distracted and they would topple like dominoes. Hiruma was starting to believe Suzuna had invited the Devil Bats to the ice rink for the very enjoyment of watching them fall on their butts and embarrass themselves.

Hiruma scanned the area and saw Fucking Skates giggling, holding on to the Fucking Shorty's hands as he nervously skated forward. They were both the perfect picture of cuteness that made Hiruma sick to his stomach.

The only one who seemed to be enjoying themselves on the ice rink was Taki, whom Hiruma assumed had taken lessons together with his sister when he thought it was cool at the time. He did a pirouette and finished it off with one leg high in the air with his signature laugh "A-ha-ha! I'm amazing 100%!" and looked around to see if anyone had witnessed this. But everyone was either too busy skating without falling, or just had no interest in seeing Taki indulging himself, so he was promptly ignored. Unperturbed, Taki continued to do this, hoping he would get the attention he craved for, but failing completely.

Hiruma looked around some more. The Old Man just skated casually along, trying to keep out of Fucking Fatty's way who attempted to trail him, calling out for help as he struggled to keep on his feet. Fucking Fatty Jr. followed his master along like a mini fighter jet, cheering his master on. The Fucking Baldy had injured his shins recently from the constant practice and could not ice skate, so he sat by the sidelines cheering everyone on.

Especially the Fucking Manager.

Hiruma was surprised that she was struggling to keep herself on her feet, but he supposed that seeing as the Fucking Shorty couldn't skate and both he and the Fucking Manager grew up together, it was likely that they both never bothered to take up lessons themselves. Not like he blamed them. Ice skating was such a fucking dumb sport.

"Hiruma, get yourself moving too," said Musashi as he approached Hiruma slowly. "I know you can skate as well and you haven't done it in years."

"If you think I'm going to participate in this fucking piece of shit, you're wrong, Fucking Old Man," Hiruma sneered.

Musashi shrugged as he skated away. "Suit yourself."

Hiruma glared at Musashi's back, allowing himself to grow more annoyed at his situation until he heard the Fucking Manager let out a loud cry. "HIRUMA-KUN!"

Hiruma barely had time to react. He saw Mamori sliding on her skates straight towards him too fast for him to avoid her, and in a short flash the image of her getting hurt rooted him. There was a flash of white before he felt the wet, cold ice on his back and his side, Mamori's weight thrown on him.

Mamori struggled to sit up, but the impact made her dizzy momentarily that she couldn't get her legs untangled with his. "O-oww..." was all she could mutter as she sat on the ice. "I-I'm sorry, Hiruma-kun..."

"Fucking Manager..." Hiruma growled as he struggled to sit up, but the position they were in made it hard for him to get up. His body was still too tangled with hers. "Could you get anymore fucking clumsy?"

"I'm sorry!" Mamori shouted, becoming just as annoyed as he was. "I thought I was finally getting the hang of it! I didn't realize I was going that fast!"

"Can't you fucking get up?" Hiruma only managed to lean on his side as he turned to look at Mamori, who still looked really dazed, her face flushed.

"Hold on..." Mamori slowly pulled her legs away from Hiruma's, obviously feeling awkward by the situation she was in. Her ice skates accidentally bumped his shins and she apologized profusely. She finally managed to pull herself away from Hiruma and struggled to get herself back on her feet.

Hiruma got up promptly though he was now wet all over. He held his hand out towards Mamori, who still seemed in shock over her "accident". It took a few seconds before she realized Hiruma's hand extended towards her and held it gingerly, letting Hiruma pull her back up. He continued to hold her hand as he said, "Come on, let's get ourselves dried up before you fuck things up further here."

Mamori began to protest but then decided to let it slide considering her drenched predicament. Hiruma continued to hold her hand as they skated out of the ice rink. He was sure the Fucking Skates was grinning at this sight, but had her hands full of looking after the Fucking Shorty. A good thing, Hiruma thought, as he wouldn't want her to take a picture of this.

"Are you both all right?" asked Yukimitsu as he rushed towards them. He took one of Mamori's shaky hands and helped her to sit down. She was now shivering from the cold.

"Fucking Baldy, get her something hot to drink," Hiruma ordered.

"Right!" said Yukimitsu, and he rushed off to look for a vending machine.

Hiruma noticed Mamori had gotten up again on shaky legs. "Oi, what are you doing?"

Mamori ignored him as she went through the bags they left near Yukimitsu for him to look after and pulled out her own bag. She opened it and took out two dark blue blankets. She gave one to Hiruma. "Brought it in case something like this happened..."

"Always the Fucking Manager," Hiruma grinned as he took one of the blankets, and they both sat next to each other. Wrapped in said blankets, they watched as the others continued ice skating as a couple of the others, including Monta, who eyed the both of them both in worry and curiosity.

"I didn't know you can skate, Hiruma-kun," Mamori spoke up.

"Not my favourite sport to do," grumbled Hiruma.

"Did you learn it as a kid?"

Hiruma kept silent as memories of him learning to skate on his own filled him.

Mamori could only sigh as Hiruma kept mum. "I must admit, I'm just surprised you'd even come for this at all. Doesn't seem like something you'd do."

Now his mind was filled with the picture Fucking Skates had blackmailed him with. Mamori had fallen asleep at the clubhouse at the time, and not only did Hiruma place a jacket on her as she laid her head on the gambling tables, but he'd sat next to her and was obviously running his long fingers through her hair.

Hiruma growled in annoyance. "Let's just say I was beaten by my own game."

Mamori looked even more confused than ever. Hiruma could only assume that her fall and the fact that it was cold had made her brain function a lot slower. "Did... someone blackmail you?"

Hiruma grinned. There we go. "Keh, wouldn't you want to know?"

Mamori couldn't help but giggle. "This is definitely a rare moment."

"I do plan to have my revenge though..." Hiruma reached into his pocket and felt his phone for a moment. "But you being a fucking clumsy manager is more rare than anything."

Mamori blushed. "I-it's not that big a deal!"

Hiruma raised his eyebrows, obviously doubting her. Mamori sighed and conceded. "Okay, you're right... I've never skated before so I am clumsy."

Hiruma got up as Yukimitsu came bearing hot cans of coffee for all three of them. They then proceeded to chat idly as the others continued to reign chaos on the ice rink. They were distracted for a moment when Suzuna who was now skating on her own, showing off her expert skills to Sena.

Mamori sighed as she smiled. "Suzuna's really amazing..."

Hiruma looked at her expression carefully before he finally cackled and said, "Do you wanna learn, Fucking Manager?"

It was Mamori's turn to look at Hiruma's expression. Was he joking? "Are you sure?"

"What? Are you afraid of crashing into me again? If that happens, I'll know for sure you have a strange fascination with my body Fucking Manager."

"That's not it!" Mamori's cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "But... it might happen again and I'd just embarrass you in front of the others."

"We can go to another skating rink in this stadium and come back when they're done. You can let us know when that happens, right, Fucking Baldy?"

Yukimitsu opened his mouth to reply but Mamori cut him off quickly. "But wouldn't the others be worried? And how about the person who blackmailed you?"

Hiruma finally pulled out his phone, grinning. "Kekeke, I got that covered, Fucking Manager. I told you I'd have my revenge."

Suzuna skated towards Sena, breathless and excited after having been able to skate freely. It was then that she noticed Hiruma and Mamori were leaving. Suzuna was about to call out to them when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out to see what it was and blushed a furious red.

"Eh? Hiruma-senpai and Mamori-nee-chan are leaving?" said Sena as he carefully skated towards Suzuna.

"A-ah... it looks like that. We should just leave them be..." said Suzuna as she quickly hid her phone.

Monta was screeching like a monkey the moment he realized Hiruma and Mamori disappeared. "MUKYA! WHERE IS MY DARLING MAMORI?"

"It's none of your concern, let them be!" Suzuna shouted back as she quickly grabbed Sena's hand. "Let's keep practicing, Sena!"

"O-okay!" Sena stumbled forward wondering why Suzuna was moving so quickly and turning a beet red shade.

For Suzuna, it was a good enough present to see Hiruma and Mamori enjoy themselves somehow even if she could not witness it. After all, she just could not let Sena see the collections of his old, worn and unused jerseys she had in her closet!


	17. The Boy with the Oni Mask

**Summary: **Despite what the people around Mamori say about her American heritage, she intends to embrace all parts of it, and that includes Halloween. But it seems she's not the only one fascinated by this strange American tradition...

**Notes: **I'm not sure if me defining Halloween as an American tradition is the right thing, cause admittedly we have a different version of Halloween in Asia, and it's linked to the Hungry Ghost Festival. So Halloween feels more like a Western thing and I'm not sure if it's celebrated heavily in places like Europe as well. Feel free to correct me on this, but for the sake of this story, I'm keeping Halloween as something American and hasn't quite been accepted yet in Japan.

I've also kept a few Japanese words here in this story. The main ones you need to know is Oni and Gaijin. Other than that, this story shouldn't be that hard to get. I have another story about Halloween which is just simple and nothing much. Feel free to read it in the next chapter. I hope you enjoy the offerings. This is for the HirumaxMamori DA prompt of the month! Happy Halloween everyone!

* * *

Eight year old Mamori was used to the taunts she got for being a quarter American. While there was no doubt that she was born Japanese, her blue eyes and light brown hair often attracted stares without fail.

Regardless of what the other kids said about her, that she was fake and only wanted attention, that Americans are terrible people and that she should go back to where she belonged, Mamori's mother had taught her to be proud of her heritage and who she was. So she accepted all cultures, both Japanese and American.

Her favourite was Halloween, as she could spend more time with her mother sewing and creating a costume. This year, she would also help make a costume for her friend, Sena, the only friend she had who was used to her unusual heritage and actually eager to give this American tradition a go.

Mamori would be dressed up as a witch from The Wizard of Oz and Sena would be dressed up as one of the monkeys that accompanied her. It took her a long, hard week, but when she finally finished the costumes, she couldn't stop talking animatedly about it to her mother right until the very evening of Halloween.

Her mother had prepared a list of houses Mamori could visit for Halloween. They were all neighbours and friends who were more than happy to support Mamori and Sena's Halloween. Sena came over soon after and Mamori could not help but squeal at how cute Sena looked in the monkey suit. Sena looked sheepish, but warmed up to Mamori's excitement and was soon eager to go.

Plastic pumpkins ready to be filled with candy in tow, Mamori held on to Sena's hand and led him to the first couple of houses where they were greeted warmly by their neighbours and given quite a lot of lovely candies. It would have been a happily uneventful night but for the trouble they met when they were about to go a little further down the neighbourhood.

Three bullies had just past by and noticed Mamori's strange attire. "What's this? A cosplay? Is there a school festival happening nearby?" one of them with a cap cocked on his head said with a big grin.

"Ah! It's that Anezaki girl with the little pathetic boy always needing her protection!" a tall, skinny boy said.

"Sena isn't pathetic!" Mamori shouted as she shoved Sena behind her. "Go away! Shouldn't you all be at home? We have to get going before it gets really dark!"

"No! We want to know what you're up to!" the third pudgy boy shouted as he approached Mamori, looking into her plastic pumpkin. "You're dressed weird and you're walking around with candy? Are you giving them out?"

"I'm not!" Mamori stood her ground, crossing her shoulders and trying to be as brave as possible. "Tonight is Halloween, so Sena and I are off to gather candy before the ghosts come out!"

"Ghosts?" all three boys cried and began to laugh out loud. "Ah, I heard about that!" said the tall boy. "It's an American thing! You can't do that here in Japan, gaijin. Go back to your home country!"

"Just leave us alone already!" cried Mamori, but the boys came forward and grabbed the plastic pumpkins away from them.

"You can't celebrate Halloween here, gaijin! This is confiscated!" shouted the pudgy boy as he laughed happily.

Sena was in tears when his candy was taken away from him. Mamori was furious right now and wished she had brought a toy broom with her so she could have whacked the boys with it. But with nothing but her bare hands, Mamori rushed forward and tried to grab the plastic pumpkins away from the boys.

The boys quickly reacted. The tall boy held on to the candy and kept it out of arm's reach for Mamori. One boy tried to push Mamori away and the other was pulling Mamori's cape. Mamori struggled as much as she could. She pushed the boy in front of her away and ran forward to grab the candy when she heard a loud rip behind her.

Mamori gasped as she realized what caused the sound. She turned to find the costume she had worked so hard on was ripped, especially at the cape. She fought back tears at the sight. The costume she and her mother had worked on... was ruined.

"How..." Mamori swallowed, trying hard not to cry. "How DARE you?" she shrieked.

"What's your problem, gaijin?" said the tall one. "It's your fault for tainting this land with your gaiijin traditions!"

"It is YOU who is tainting this land, boy."

Everyone gasped as they heard a voice speak from the top of a tree just next to them. It was getting too dark to see, and they wondered who could be up there. The voice was scary and almost... devil-like.

"Who are you?" asked the boy with the cap.

"... Do you want to know?"

The three boys gulped.

The voice sounded more and more evil. "... Kekeke! I am the true terror that reigns over Japan, and I come out every Hallow's night. Do not treat today as a day that only happens in America. It happens right here too, and I've come to terrorize anyone who doubts my existence."

"You're not real!" cried the pudgy boy. "You're just someone pranking us!"

"... Trick or treat?"

Sena gasped when he heard this and clung to Mamori's ripped cape. The voice was so terrifying that even the boys turned pale. But Mamori didn't find this scary at all, she was fascinated.

Did someone other than her celebrate Halloween?

"T-trick...?" said the tall boy, who was confused by the question having never heard of it before. But before he could finish the sentence, the strange voice in the tree spoke up.

"Trick it is, then."

Instantly something fell straight from the tree with a loud thud, causing everyone to take a step back and panic. Mamori held on to Sena, making sure he was safe.

And then, ever so slowly, the dark shadow was getting up. The body was covered in grass straws and the face was covered by a familiar Japanese mask, red with black hollow eyes and horns...

"IT'S AN ONI!" the pudgy boy screamed.

"It can't be! That has to be fake!" cried the boy with the cap.

Whoever was behind the Oni mask was cackling loudly now. "Do you want to witness the true power of an Oni?"

The air around them seemed to freeze with each word the Oni said. The boys dropped the candy and ran for their lives, shouting and screaming in terror. Sena was too terrified to run, so Mamori held her arms out and protected him. "D-don't come any closer!"

But the Oni merely picked up the plastic pumpkins and the remaining candy. Mamori saw a white, skinny limb appear out of the grass straw outfit, and judging by the size, Mamori was certain that this was a boy. She calmed Sena down a little more and then walked forward to help pick up the rest of the candy.

"Thank you... for helping us," said Mamori as she finally picked every piece of candy and put it in the plastic pumpkin. The boy with the Oni mask merely nodded and got up to leave. "Wait!" Mamori called out, causing him to stop and look at her curiously.

Mamori smiled gently, put her hand into the plastic pumpkin and pulled out some sweets. "Here... you can have them!"

The boy looked at the sweets in her hand and said, "I hate sweet things."

"Eh?" Mamori stared at the sweets in her hand. "Oh! Well then..." Mamori dug into her plastic pumpkin, rummaging through it. The boy was looking curiously at her now, and even Sena approached them cautiously, curious at what was going on.

"Ah! Here!" Mamori held out her hand once more and this time, she had mints and chewing gum in her hands. "If you don't like sweets, you can have this then!"

The boy was silent for a moment, as he continued to stare at the mints in her hand. "Why?" he asked.

"Because it's Halloween!", Mamori smiled. "And it's always great to see another person in the spirit of the season! I really like your Oni mask!"

The boy quietly extended his skinny arm and took the mints and gum from Mamori. He didn't utter a word, but he quickly turned and ran away from Mamori and Sena.

"Mamori-nee-chan, are you okay? He left without thanking you," asked a tiny Sena.

Mamori held Sena's hand and smiled at him. "It's all right, Sena. He's a special Japanese demon and we offered him treats so he wouldn't trick us! Now let's get going... we have one more house to see before we head home!"

Sena nodded eagerly and walked on with Mamori, who was happily smiling to herself. Despite her torn dress and possibly one or two bruises, it felt good to know that she wasn't the only one celebrating an American tradition.

Upon reaching a place to hide, the boy finally took off his oni mask to reveal his sharp pointed features and messy black hair. He pulled out the mints given to him and stared at it for a moment. Taking the chewing gum, he chewed on it for a while until he grinned widely and cackled, "Kekeke, I think I really will like Halloween."


	18. The Oni Mask

**Summary: **Hiruma and Mamori investigate the store room behind the temple to look for a mask that is bound to leave terror in a person's heart...

**Notes: **This was something simple I wrote initially as I liked the idea of having a Halloween with a Japanese culture in it. In the end, I decided to write the story in the earlier chapter and it was a lot better than this one here. But I suppose I didn't want to just scrap it up as it wasn't that bad... just simple. So I hope you enjoy reading this in some way, as it really isn't much.

Happy Halloween everyone!

* * *

"It's really dark in here."

"Did you bring the fucking torchlight?"

"Yeah."

With a click, the room Hiruma and Mamori in was dimly lit by the torchlight. The room was dusty and filled with boxes and other old artifacts that lay almost wasted in the cold darkness of the room. Mamori shivered lightly.

"Are you scared?" Hiruma asked as he went in.

She shook her head. "It's cold. This atmosphere doesn't help,"

"Don't turn chicken on me now, Fucking Manager," he cackled.

"I won't!" Mamori protested as she finally took a few steps forward. "Now where do you think they'd be?"

"The fucking fatty mentioned it'd be in one of the bigger chests at the back."

Mamori nodded as she aimed the torchlight to the back of the room. She found the chest Hiruma had just mentioned and headed towards it. "Hiruma-kun, I think it's..."

A tap. A scuttle. Mamori froze. She felt something rush across her feet causing her to quickly clap her hands on her mouth, but she still let out a squeal and had dropped her torchlight in the process, causing it to turn itself off.

"Oi! What the fuck are you doing?"

Mamori let out a gasp. Finally regaining her thoughts, she was sure that it was a mere rat that ran across her feet. Mamori shook her head as she bent down, her hands touching the dusty floor as she looked for the torchlight. "Sorry, panicked a little."

"You really are jumpy at these kind of places."

"I told you I might be like this... I already get the creeps being in a graveyard. I don't know what's lurking in this store room, but it's making the hairs on the back of my neck stand." Mamori's hand bumped into the torchlight. Releasing a sigh of relief, she picked it up and promptly turned it on.

Hiruma's cackle echoed in the room. "Sure you don't want to fucking leave then? I can look for it myself."

Mamori shook her head as she pointed the torchlight at the chest once more. "A deal's a deal. I lost the bet. Let's do this."

"Kekeke, that's what I wanted to hear." Hiruma moved forward and headed towards the chest, Mamori following suit. She stayed by the side of the chest as Hiruma bent down to take a good look.

The chest was obviously dusty. There was a latch on it, but there was no lock, so Hiruma opened it easily enough. The loud creak as the chest yielded open felt intrusive to Mamori's ears, but she looked at the contents of the chest eagerly.

"Wow..." she gasped as she bent down to take a closer look as well. The chest was filled with traditional Japanese Noh masks often used in traditional Japanese musical performances. "They really do have almost every mask available... there's not only Tengu and Kitsune masks here... There's the Ondeko and Shishigashira!"

"Impressive..." said Hiruma, though he sounded a little bit bored. "But the one we're after..." Hiruma reached in and pulled out a fierce looking, almost evil mask. "Is the Oni Mask."

Mamori felt a shiver run through her spine once more. "I've read up on this mask… it's quite scary, yet I can't deny that it's possibly one of the most fascinating masks around."

Hiruma placed the mask just before his face. Mamori could hear Hiruma's lightly muffled voice from behind. "So what do you think? Will this scare the shit out of them for Halloween?"

Mamori merely nodded. "Who wouldn't be scared of the Oni Mask? They portray the devil, and it symbolizes disasters and the plague."

"What about me?"

She blinked, confused as she looked at Hiruma again as he continued to keep his face hidden behind the Oni Mask. "Eh?"

"Seeing as I'm pretty much known as the devil, do you think I symbolize disasters and the plague?"

Seeing as she was unable to read Hiruma's expression, Mamori wasn't sure whether Hiruma was joking or not. Instead, she was forced to read the Oni Mask's expression. Menacing and grim, it taunted her with a fear she knew was building within. Then another thought crossed her mind. "No, cause the Oni Mask is also used to ward off evil spirits. In a sense, don't you do the same, Hiruma-kun?"

Hiruma merely replied in silence, so Mamori continued, "You put on this demon persona not only to symbolize the disasters you want to bring to the team you're against, your tactics help to keep danger from coming upon your team members. True, you use blackmail, but I can't deny that it helped, especially when the team accidentally set the school on fire."

Mamori felt a little nervous when Hiruma didn't reply. Suddenly he turned towards the entrance of the store room. "I think I heard someone there. Go see who it is."

Mamori looked at the entrance wondering who could it be. She left the torchlight with Hiruma as she could clearly see the entrance as the bright full moon offered a little bit of light to the outside. Mamori promptly looked around... but saw no one. "There's no one here, Hiruma-kun... Are you sure...?"

Mamori turned to look for him, but was only greeted by darkness. "Hiruma-kun...?" Mamori took a step forward, although fear truly gripped her heart now. "Stop joking around, Hiruma-kun... where are you?"

She stood within the moonlit entrance of the store room, afraid to move away from the light. But she felt a draft coming from inside the room and she could not help but look...

The oni mask suddenly floated before her, filling her with terror. Mamori screamed as loud as she could as she took a couple of steps back, almost tripping on her own feet. She covered her face with her hands, hoping that she was just dreaming, before reality caught hold of her once more in the form of a familiar, loud cackle.

"Hiruma-kun!" Mamori shouted as the Devil Bats Quarterback pulled the mask away, revealing a gleeful face. "That wasn't funny!"

"Kekeke, calm yourself, Fucking Manager," cackled Hiruma. "I wanted to make sure the mask would be truly effective. Your stupid talk about warding off evil spirits had me a bit worried there."

"Oh, you... you...!" Mamori struggled to find the words to describe her frustration. "You're incorrigible!"

"Thank you for stating the obvious, Fucking Manager," said Hiruma as he held the mask in one hand. He reached out his other, promptly holding on to Mamori's. "Now let's go, we have a lot of planning to do."

He dragged Mamori out of the store room and kept holding on to her even after the closed it up and was now walking back to the temple. Mamori wasn't sure why Hiruma kept her hand tightly in his, but for that short moment, she relished the warmth of his hand in hers. It was comforting, to say the least.

"Now to get you in that Hone-Onna outfit I got you," Hiruma grinned. "We'll give those fucking Devil Bats a scare of their life as part of their training to react to sudden surprises."

"I'm not sure if I'll do a good job in scaring them..." Mamori hesitated.

"Are you fucking kidding me? I saw you in that Hone-Onna outfit, I almost pissed my pants!"

"HIRUMA-KUN!"

"Kekekeke!"


	19. Underneath the Mistletoe

**Summary:** Caught under the mistletoe, Hiruma and Mamori ponder on what to do next...

**Notes:** Written for Yuki119 on DeviantArt as a prize for winning Third Place in last month's DA's HirumaxMamori's prompt. Her prompt was mistletoe with some additional plot points, which I hope was incorporated well enough here. Overall, it was fun to write a simple piece that included my favourite part about writing HiruMamo: their bantering. XD Enjoy!

* * *

Closing his laptop and packing it away, Hiruma finally decided to call it a day after hours of training and going through strategies. It was dark, and as it was December, the weather was now pretty cold. He could feel a draft coming from the open door where the Fucking Manager stood waiting for him as she had the keys to lock the clubhouse.

As he walked towards the entrance, he noticed Mamori was distracted by something just above the door. Hiruma noticed it too as he walked closer, for hanging just above the doorway was...

... Mistletoe.

"Who put it there?" Mamori asked as Hiruma drew closer to her and the mistletoe.

"I'm guessing it's the Fucking Skates."

"But why?"

Hiruma looked away from the mistletoe to give Mamori a look of pure disbelief. "What do you mean why? She obviously set this up."

"For what?"

"What do you think a fucking mistletoe is for?"

Mamori crossed her arms defensively. "Well, I know that traditionally any two people caught under this are supposed to kiss, but I don't see why she had to do this."

"Because it's obvious we would be the last fucking two to leave today and we would both be by the door when we leave?"

"So wait, does that mean...?"

"Don't be so dense, Fucking Manager. It's exactly what you think it is."

Mamori blushed, though it could be because it was getting colder. "Well..." Mamori spoke up. "What do we do now?"

Hiruma grinned. "I don't know, what do YOU think we should do, Fucking Manager?"

"Hiruma-kun!" she cried exasperatedly. Fine time for him to throw this mess back at her. "Right, I'm sure we can ignore this. Just move so that I can lock up and we can get going."

"And what if I refuse?"

"Hiruma-kun, now is NOT the time to be a tease! We're both cold and tired and there's no way I'm going to let some childish tradition stand in the way of—"

Mamori suddenly felt something warm and soft pressed harshly against her lips. It took a few seconds for her to realise that Hiruma was kissing her, that when he pulled away she found herself missing the warmth of his lips on hers.

"You know instead of babbling incessantly, you could've just got it fucking done and over with," Hiruma cackled as he grinned at her and took the keys from her hands to lock up the clubhouse.

Mamori stood stunned for a moment before her senses finally kicked in and she shouted, "You were TEASING me! I knew it!"

Hiruma cackled even louder as Mamori attempted to smack him, which he quickly avoided. Holding her hand in his, Mamori frowning childishly, they walked out of the school as Hiruma mentally told himself to reward the Fucking Skates for a job well done.


	20. A Trick to Sleep

**Summary:** Hiruma's having trouble sleeping, and Mamori's only option is one that seems way too simple to be effective.

**Notes:** Written for FrozenHealer for winning Second Place in last month's DA HirumaxMamori prompt. The prompt given was "Sleep" and it reminded me of this SenaSuzu story I have in mind but haven't had the chance to write cause I'm still too obsessed with HiruMamo more... hurr... So this story is somewhat based on that idea I had. Simple silly fluff for the season! Enjoy!

* * *

It was quite a sight for Mamori to see her fiancé struggling to get comfortable in the narrow train seat he was in. He fidgeted, and got up a couple of times, growling in annoyance and mumbled profanities that grew louder and louder, causing the others in the train to scoot as far away from him as possible. She could only watch sympathetically as she felt partly responsible for Hiruma's discomfort. "You really should try to get some rest," Mamori spoke up.

"Yeah, well, sleep would come easily to me if you remembered the fucking sleeping pills," Hiruma replied with annoyance.

"I'm sorry, but we did rush after your game and I had to pack for the both of us. You haven't slept for over 48 hours now."

"I don't think I can fucking sleep," Hiruma scowled as he sank into his seat.

Mamori sighed, knowing how Hiruma was hard to handle when he had this attitude on. "Are you nervous because we're going to visit your father? We won't reach there in the next two to three hours so-"

"I don't give a fuck about that fucking old man. At this point, I don't know how you managed to convince me to take this trip."

"It's because we're engaged now, Hiruma-kun. And I think it's only right that we see him. Now get some sleep."

Hiruma let out a frustrated sigh as he closed his eyes, but the obviously disturbed expression on his face made Mamori bite her lip. Despite how annoying he could be at times like these, she knew it was because he was under a lot of pressure. She tried to remember anything that could help him sleep better, anything simple...

Then one idea came up, and it made her blush. "Oh..."

"What?"

Mamori noticed Hiruma had not fallen asleep yet, but was watching her worried expressions intently. "It's nothing," she assured him. "But I remembered this trick Suzuna told me that helps people sleep better."

"Oh?" Hiruma grinned, knowing that if it's a suggestion from the Fucking Skates, it would be interesting. "What's that?"

"You could... sleep on my lap..." Mamori quickly looked outside the window, knowing Hiruma's expression would be close to devious at this point.

And deviously smirking he was. "Are you fucking serious?"

"Well, it's worth a try! And it's better than watching you fidget so much. But I suppose sleeping on my lap isn't possible seeing as the train seats have hand rests and I don't think it'd be comfortable for you. So..."

Hiruma urged her on. "So?"

"Just... rest your head on my shoulder then. If it doesn't work, we'll figure something else that might help."

Hiruma cackled in amusement. It was an amazing opportunity to tease his fiancée, something he enjoyed doing very much. But as his mind could barely function at this state, he decided that he'd just comply for the heck of it. Crossing his arms, he leaned his head close to Mamori's shoulder until it finally rested there comfortably.

Mamori was surprised by Hiruma's lack of complaints, but kept silent for a few minutes as she felt his weight on her shoulder, the train gently rocking them. After a while, Mamori finally pulled up her courage and whispered, "Hiruma-kun...?"

But Hiruma didn't reply. In fact, his head felt heavier on her shoulder and she could hear his steady, calm breaths much louder.

Feeling rather content, Mamori gently leaned against Hiruma, placing her head on his and smiling. Closing her eyes, and letting herself be gently swayed by the train, she couldn't help but think how rare it was for Hiruma to display such vulnerability, and how comfortable it felt to have him this close, like it was normal, and it had always been so...

Until she felt someone shake her and, to her embarrassment, realised she had fallen asleep. The conductor told them that they have reached their stop and Hiruma was now wide awake, looking at her with his familiar grin that seemed rather mischievous. "Well..." he said as he got off his seat. "That trick was a little too effective, yes?"


	21. The Mystery on Christmas Day

**Summary:** Ever since Mamori joined the Devil Bats, she would receive an anonymous present on Christmas that sent those around her in a frenzy. Who is this mystery person and why is he hiding?

**Notes:** Oh man, I really wonder about my writing style here and whether or not it was a good idea to do it this way. But I've lacked sleep the past few days and I've been so busy and I didn't want to miss out on writing for Christmas and I'm already late so... ARGH! I don't know anymore. D8

This was written for DeviantArt's prompt of the month which is "Winter", although this story focuses a lot more on Christmas than it does on the overall season. There's only a light mention on the season, so I hope it's all right. Do let me know if you have an issue with this writing style, and I'll do my best to improve. Overall, I admit I could've done more with this story, but time has limited me to write only this much and I apologise.

For now, I do hope you enjoy this somehow, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!

* * *

Anezaki Mamori is a master in the art of giving. From making hand gifts to selecting the perfect present for the perfect person in the perfect occasion, she would always have something ready to give to anyone who was at least her acquaintance.

Hiruma Youichi was the exact opposite. He demanded that he got his way, and that things were given to him as if he was entitled to them. He didn't care how he did it, or how vile his methods would be to others. All that mattered was that he got what he wanted. So far he has had a 98% success rate on this.

To those who know both Anezaki and Hiruma, they're used to playing these two different roles for them. One as the person who accepts happily and gratefully, the other as the person who gives fearfully or tearfully. It was a routine that they were all used to, even to the two said people themselves.

So it was a surprise when Mamori had been on the receiving end one Christmas Day. In all honesty, Mamori was an easy woman to please. Give her anything from the heart, something partially handmade, even if it is deformed, to even one or thousands of creampuffs, and she was a happy and satisfied recipient. But this particular gift made her stop and ponder for a moment.

For it was a jewelled necklace in the shape of a bear, and it appeared to her in the post box.

She spent the next few days figuring out who it could be, asking people questions and trying to link it to the gift. This piqued everyone's curiosity. Who was this secret admirer? Who could ever think of such a lovely and thoughtful gift to her? Why would he be hiding?

But soon Mamori stopped asking, and she didn't seem to care who it was. She wore the necklace regularly after that. While many in the Devil Bats were still curious about who this mystery person was, as Mamori was willing to drop the subject, they would too.

The following Christmas, when both Mamori and Hiruma were in Saikyoudai, another similar incident occurred for their new team to see. Mamori received a hair clip this time, a fancy jewelled one in the shape of a butterfly to hold her now long hair. People were curious once again as to who gave her such a beautiful present, but Mamori would just shrug and claim that it didn't matter, and that she was grateful for the lovely gift.

It wasn't until the next Christmas did an inkling on who the mystery person was came to light. From the rumours that flew around, it seemed that Mamori had finally confronted said mystery person and asked for a different gift that year, and he complied. And that was when a few students from Saikyoudai saw the college's American Football Manager and their Quarterback walking towards an orphanage that Mamori frequently volunteered... right on Christmas Day.

No one really understood it. The man who constantly demanded to have things his way was giving to a woman who didn't seem to give him anything in return... on Christmas Day! Was it Opposite Day for the unlikely couple on the 25th of December? Did someone cast a magic spell that made them this way every Christmas?

Years later and the tradition continued. Hiruma gave, and Mamori received. A mystery that prevailed for so long as either nobody dared to question them, or the duo just wouldn't explain themselves. It wasn't until their first Christmas as a married couple that they both finally decided it was time to come clean.

For Hiruma, Mamori was the first person he ever felt compelled to give a gift. Initially, he did it out of courtesy, something to reward her for all the hard work and sacrifices she made for the team. The next year he discovered he liked her more and more, and decided to give her another gift. When Mamori confronted him that one cold December morning, they struck an agreement that his gifts would be less materialistic. For though Mamori did enjoy the gift, she thought Hiruma could do better than that.

Mamori explained that she didn't do it to bully Hiruma. Not at all. She just wanted to teach him a little more about the spirit of giving on Christmas and how it could come in different forms. She admitted his first time at the orphanage was rough as his language was hard to control and the guns were far from child friendly. But the kids loved him, especially when he taught them football. One sickly boy even looked up to him and swore to get better, wanting to be just like Hiruma and play the best game of football ever. Hiruma would claim that he was merely recruiting more minions, but to Mamori it was a different story. One that she was very proud of.

Yet one question still remained. Why didn't Mamori give him anything in return on Christmas Day? To which Mamori blushed and replied, "What makes you think I didn't give him anything on Christmas Day?"


	22. Of Futures and Digital Space

**Summary**: Getting ready to enter the working world can be nerve wrecking, but Hiruma and Mamori venture forth.

**Notes:** This is Bar-Ohki's prize fic for winning first place in DA's HiruMamo's November prompt "Autumn"! Prompt given was Job Hunting. The title is a gag and I apologise if it's lame. XD

It's an incredibly simple fic, one which I mused on whether to add more conflict in. But I couldn't help but see Hiruma and Mamori at that stage, where they're about to graduate, being really comfortable with each other and not really fighting over simple things like Hiruma's use of the black book or even Mamori's inability to use the computer (which I enjoyed bringing up here).

I hope I tackled the whole issue of them and how they try to get their dream jobs well enough without over simplifying it. If it is too simple and too silly, do let me know and I'll do my best to fix it!

* * *

Mamori breathed a sigh of relief as she clicked the "Send" button in her email. Even as the burden on her shoulders lifted for a moment, one glance at her watch made her groan at the amount of time she had just wasted sending out emails. She was supposed to return this laptop to Hiruma a few minutes ago because, though he would not show it, he would be worried about his laptop being in her hands. She still struggled with laptops and computers despite them being a part of almost everyone else's daily life, though she was glad to say that she was nowhere near as destructive as Seijirou Shin. Just... slow.

She had to meet up with Hiruma now and return the laptop to him, but she still had to pack everything up and leave the college library. Mamori carefully turned the laptop off, taking extra care she didn't click anything else other than the "Shut Down" button. Just as she was about to close the laptop and keep it in her bag, someone breathed into her ear, causing her to jump as she heard a soft, familiar cackle.

"You're taking too long," the blonde quarterback whispered behind her.

She frowned for a moment before finally letting out a sigh of defeat. "I'm sorry. After all this time, I'm still not used to all these gadgets."

"Kekeke, if you're fucking worried about deleting my files again, you do know I back them up whenever I know you're using my laptop."

"Your ability to predict my moves away from the Football field is admirable, Hiruma-kun," Mamori smiled wanly as she carefully packed away his laptop and handed it back to him. "Let's go, I'll buy you coffee on the way as thanks for letting me use your laptop."

Walking together across Saikyoudai's campus, Mamori couldn't help but look at her surroundings in a new light. Students scattered across the open field, either enjoying the sunny day out by burying themselves in books or hanging out with friends, just another day to enjoy the simple student life, which they would both be saying farewell to very soon.

"So? You think you'll fucking nail that interview at the Yomogi Kindergarten?" asked Hiruma, grabbing Mamori's attention.

She shrugged in reply. "Considering they asked for additional information from me, I suppose it does look possible. Though I wasn't too comfortable with emailing it to them! Isn't it possible that it could get lost in some strange digital space?"

Hiruma cackled in amusement. "Seeing as it's you, Fucking Manager, emails getting lost in digital space is totally possible. Should've let me send it for you instead."

Mamori shook her head. "No, it's best that I do it since it's my responsibility. I'm still new to the whole job hunting scene, anything is possible and I'd rather be there to do it myself."

"Well, if you're desperate for the job, you know I could help," he grinned as he snaked his long fingers into his pocket and allowed the corner of a little black book to peek through.

Mamori saw this and sniffed in disapproval. "No thank you," she replied determinedly. "As I said, I intend to do this on my own. Without the extra help."

Hiruma cackled as he nodded in approval and allowed the book to drop back into his pocket.

"I suppose the reason why you're so laidback is because you found a job using that 'extra help' of yours?"

Hiruma casually shrugged. "Guess you'd fucking think that way..."

"Well you did get a couple of part time jobs using that after all," said Mamori, recalling the time he got that part time job in a sports shop that shocked everyone in the Devil Bats.

He grinned and slowed his walk upon leaving the grounds of Saikyoudai. "Fucking did, didn't I? Well, you can say it has helped me for now..."

"What and where?" she asked as she followed his pace.

"Business company in Tokyo, gonna help out in the sales side for a bit," he cackled with an evil glint in his eyes.

Mamori couldn't help but cringe a little at first. Hiruma may know how to make sales happen, but his methods were always controversial whenever he had to handle people. She did feel a little disheartened though, as she began to consider Hiruma's experience in sales from his past jobs while her only 'relevant' experiences were in babysitting alongside her college credentials. Would that be enough to get her hired? What if she needed more experience? What if it was a lot tougher in the working world than she imagined? "You're pretty lucky, Hiruma-kun..."

"What do you mean?"

Mamori lifted her shoulders and took a deep breath. "No matter where you go in this world, you can always adapt. You could climb your way up easily with your intelligence and wits... and I suppose with that book of yours, too. I'm still too naive with regards to the working world, and I still have such a long way to go..."

Hiruma didn't reply for a moment as they began to walk further down towards the city, the sky getting darker as evening fell through. The streets were now filled with people just off from work, men in business suits with their colleagues going out for dinner and drinks, women going out to shop for leisure or groceries to make dinners for their waiting family members. They would join the likes of these people very soon... "Keh, are you fucking kidding me?"

"Eh?" Mamori blinked and looked at Hiruma, confused by his tone of voice.

"Are you or are you not the Fucking Manager of the great Deimon Devil Bats and the Saikyoudai Wizards? Champions of the Christmas Bowl and the Rice Bowl?"

"What does that have to do with-?"

"Being able to strategise and plan beforehand, being able to solve a problem on the field, being there to support the team and handle a bunch of fucking overgrown babies. On top of all that, you still get fucking high distinctions in your courses, you'll be graduating with honours and all you had to do was say one word and your fucking lecturers gladly wrote long letters of reference praising your work ethics and attitude," Hiruma grinned at her supportively. "If you ask me, you've got just as much fucking intelligence and wit, and just as much power as me with my black book to get a job."

Mamori stared at Hiruma for a moment, a warm, happy feeling building within her. Then she looked away and smiled, "I suppose you're right. I'll just take on whatever challenges before me the way Football taught me. Head on with no doubts or regrets. That's why Hiruma-kun..."

It was Hiruma's turn to stare at Mamori, whose expression softened as she looked at him and said, "Good luck in gathering all the info you need to join the NFL. You'll get there someday, I'm sure of it."

He knew he shouldn't be surprised. But he still had to ask, "How did you figure that one out?"

"That business company in Tokyo... could it be the company whose team took part in the X-League? They're known to have links in America too, and those links are sponsors to the NFL."

He couldn't help but grin. "You refuse to believe I just want to work for that company to be a mere fucking salesman and make obscene amounts of money?"

"I refuse to believe you're the type of man with such small, simple goals," Mamori smiled in return. "Or has my instincts as the manager of champions rusted?"

Without another word, Hiruma reached out and held Mamori's hand as they continued to walk on, both smiling in contentment. "Keh, it wasn't that big a mystery anyways..."

Mamori giggled, holding on to Hiruma's hand a little more tightly. "I'm sure..."

They walked through the city hand in hand before stopping in front of their favourite cafe to grab some coffee. "When you go pro in the NFL, promise you'll at least take me out for a nice dinner?" asked Mamori as Hiruma opened the door.

"A nice dinner?" Hiruma grinned as he looked at Mamori, bemused. "Fucking Manager, I'll take you out for a hundred dinners consisting of just creampuffs if you want!"

"Hiruma-kun!" Mamori laughed as she entered the cafe. They were quiet for a moment as she ordered coffee for the both of them, before a thought crossed her mind. "Oh, but if you do get into the NFL, you'd be in America and it would be hard to see each other, wouldn't it? It'd be lonely without you around… Phone calls and letters could only do so much… I guess our dream jobs may just keep us apart."

She mused on, enjoying Hiruma's presence behind her when he suddenly said, "When you get that fucking kindergarten teacher position..."

Mamori turned to look at Hiruma, surprised to see a rather annoyed expression on his face. People were staring at them curiously, and the barista called out her order to let her know the coffee was ready, but before she could even think about picking them up, he continued, "Promise you'll let me teach you how to use a fucking computer?"


	23. Dragon Fly

**Summary**: The Enma Fires play witness to the true power of the Dragon by the Saikyoudai Wizards...

**Notes**: Sucky summary is SUCKY! But yeah, this was written for DA HiruMamo's prompt of the month which is "Dragon" to celebrate the Chinese New Year! It's now the Year of the Water Dragon! ^^

Admittedly, for something that I really wanted to write about in a more fantasy like way or at least touch more on the Dragon Year, I ended up only being able to write something kinda... normal. XD This is what happens when I reread Eyeshield 21 and the only thing I could think of for the "Dragon" theme after that was Shinryuuji Naga and their ever popular "Dragon Fly".

And yes, yes, my descriptions of the game is lame. I need to work on that more. I only have a really short grasp on how to picture football games with words, so do feel free to whack me on the head and teach me how the game really works if I made a mistake.

Until then, Happy Chinese New Year to all of you! May the Year of the Dragon bring you great prosperity and happiness! Gong Xi Fa Cai!

* * *

"TOOOOOUCHDOOOOOWN!"

The whole stadium erupted in excitement, and even Sena and the rest of his Fire teammates couldn't help but join in. Even though they were cheering for their possible next opponent for the Rice Bowl, it was still an exciting game to witness.

"Yaaa! Yoi-nii and Agonne used Dragon Fly!" cried Suzuna, jumping up and down excitedly and clutching Sena's sleeve tightly. "They've gotten so strong, they were so in sync that we barely saw the ball!"

"Ah, the Dragon Fly technique is one of the most impressive and hardest to stop if done right," said Unsui, his arms folded in a guarded stance though he broke into a smile. "While the play has always been perfect, it seems my brother and Hiruma have clearly made it harder to defeat. We will have to look out for it once they win the game."

"Looks like you're pretty certain they'll make it through to the Rice Bowl," said Riku, who had now calmed himself down after joining in the excitement. Unsui merely closed his eyes and smiled as the announcer announced half time.

"Heeeh, I've never seen the Dragon Fly technique in person before," said Enma Fire's newly recruited Tight End, Terada, who was tall with a skinny frame that could easily be mistaken as weak, but he had proved to the Fires that he was a formidable player. "Didn't you and Agon-san create this technique at Shinryuuji Naga?"

"It was one of our techniques that we were most proud of," explained Unsui. "Strong, unstoppable, fierce... the epitome of a dragon, only the strongest quarterbacks are able to perform."

"YEAH! And Saikyoudai's strongest quarterbacks are definitely Hiruma and Agon!" cried Mizumachi.

"Mizumachi, you idiot, put your clothes back on!" cried Kotaro as he spat at the crazy blonde who was now taking off his pants. "The game's about to start again! That's not smart!"

"They definitely showed that during the US World Cup, didn't they?" Sena spoke up. "But they're such strong, proud people both Hiruma-san and Agon-san. It amazes me that they can still play so well together?"

"Couldn't it be that Agon-san has finally learnt the true meaning of teamwork max?" asked Monta as he stared at the Wizards who were now going to their bench where Mamori was, passing out bottles of water to the players.

Unsui shrugged, though he had a feeling that what Monta said could be true. Lately his brother did seem to enjoy the game a lot more and while he showed no mercy to his opponents, he seemed to have more respect for his teammates. "I suppose it could be that or..."

"STOP IT YOU TWO!"

A familiar female voice rang through the stadium, causing the Fires to quickly look at the Saikyoudai bench to see Mamori, one hand on her hip and the other holding a clip board, an angry frown across her pretty features. They could tell she was scolding both Agon and Hiruma as they both looked away nervously, though there was a grin at the corner of Hiruma's lips as Agon sneered on.

"Yaaa, Mamo-nee is still at it!" giggled Suzuna. "Really, she hasn't changed much other than the fact that she now has two stubborn people under her wing."

"Well, whatever she's doing, it's effective," said Terada, eyes as wide as saucers at the sight before him. "I don't think I've ever seen those two silenced before... by a woman, no less!"

"That's the power of my angel, Mamori-san!" cried Monta, clenching his fists in awe. "She's so kind and gentle yet when you do something to cross her, she'll beat you up with her beautiful blue eyed stare!"

The rest of the Fires looked at Monta with an incredulous look. "That's... a weird thing to say, Monta," said Riku.

Unsui couldn't help but suppress a laugh as the Wizards went back on the field, getting into formation while Mamori watched on, her eyes on fire as she looked at Hiruma particularly, sending him signals from the bench. "It seems that the Wizards were right in having a dragon tamer as their manager."

oOo

"Stop pouting, it makes you look cute."

Mamori pouted even further when Hiruma gave her that hand signal. She quickly signalled back, "I can't believe you even have the time to say that! Just stop provoking Agon and get ready for the blitz!"

Hiruma cackled as he got into position.

"SET! HUT!"

The other team's offense was quickly cut off as Banba rushed forward and blitz the other quarterback, failing his pass. As everyone recovered and were rushing back into position once again, Hiruma quickly sent Mamori another hand signal.

"Fifty creampuffs for the Fucking Manager who shows no fear in the face of dragons."

Mamori raised her eyebrows for a moment as Hiruma was distracted on the field. It was obvious that the other team was preparing their offence in hopes to seal Banba once more.

He almost missed it but Hiruma saw Mamori signal back, a grin at the corner of her lips. "Twenty five will do. Number of players aiming for Banba will increase. Yamato will be standing ready. Prepare to fly."

Hiruma cackled as he now set his eyes on the team before him. "It really is going to be the Dragon year for the Wizards. Golden Dragon Fly it is then."


	24. The White Day Rule

**Summary:** Mamori has a strange rule she enforces every White Day. Hiruma complies, but is now thinking twice after noticing a change...

**Notes:** Written for this month's DeviantArt's HirumaxMamori prompt!

I actually struggled a lot with this one shot, I rewrote this twice, stopped midway, changed the direction of the middle scene a couple of times before finally deciding on this ending... and then struggled to feel comfortable with it. XD

I don't know why I took this route... I guess I wanted to do something different that added little elements of my fic Gravity and Wait For Me, and yet still retain some originality and fluffiness for all to enjoy. SO MUCH THOUGHT PROCESS FOR SOMETHING SO SIMPLE. I need to relax more. LOL! Thanks Elis for going through it for me, editing and assuring me it's not as bad as I think. XD

Hope you enjoy it. Lots of love to the DA group HirumaxMamori for continuously making me rack my brain every month to write thee fics. Hooray for turning two years! And a happy belated birthday to Honey-Bee89 for being the awesome person who started it all!

* * *

The problem with being in love with a woman whose actions have already become second nature to you, is that the moment something changes it comes as too quick and sudden of a blow to quickly wrap your head around. While this is normal for most people, for Hiruma Youichi, this is a big problem. After all, football tactics change dramatically and one can't help but compare that to a woman's heart that does the same. But why was the latter so much more incomprehensible?

So there he sat, glaring at the sight of a beautifully wrapped white package neatly tied up with lacy white ribbons that seemed the perfect addition to the pristine dining table in Anezaki Mamori's residence. This wouldn't have bothered him so much, if it weren't for the fact that today was White Day.

Now, Mamori had a rule that everyone around her knew, especially on White Day. And that was despite Mamori giving out chocolates on Valentine's Day, she would not accept any gifts on White Days. This was mostly because she was aware that the amount of gifts she would receive would be so overwhelming, she would more than likely just give them away to friends and charities. So far the only gifts she had never refused to date were from those who knew her well enough to give her Kariya creampuffs.

Because of that, the fact that an obvious White Day gift was present within Mamori's home on White Day caused Hiruma's mind to fall in to a whirlwind of possibilities, neither of which were pleasant. Hiruma narrowed down the possibilities of the people who would even dare to leave a present to a few guys who were either stupid or pretty daring. Then he wondered about the reasons why Mamori even kept this gift in the first place, or why she would even bother bringing it back to her place. Was she really going to give it away later? What if she decided to keep it?

"Hiruma-kun, are you all right?"

Her voice broke through his thoughts as he tore his gaze away from the gift and into Mamori's blue eyes that were looking at him curiously, with a tinge of concern. Her hair was tied up in a simple ponytail and she was dressed casually today in jeans and a t-shirt, highly inappropriate wear for what should be a special day for a girl who worked her ass off to give everyone chocolate just a month before.

"Fucking fine," Hiruma replied, getting up from his seat as he contemplated on whether to question Mamori about the gift or not. She didn't seem too bothered by its presence, and she didn't seem that excited by its existence either. But that could just be the way she was, and Hiruma wasn't going to let Mamori's good nature get the best of him again. "I see you've got something special."

Hiruma glanced at the gift once more and her gaze followed his to it. She let out a sigh and said, "Oh, that... I told him not to give it to me as I really cannot accept gifts on days like these, but he was really persistent and well..."

There was a light blush on Mamori's cheeks and a certain expression he'd seen her wear only for one particular person that they both knew. "Fucking charmed you again, didn't he?"

Mamori sighed again as she reached out to the gift and touched the lace ribbons gently. "I've never had to deal with someone like Yamato-kun before. I'm usually pretty strong against anyone's advances like that, but with him it takes a lot more effort than I realise..."

This was something Hiruma couldn't blame Mamori for. Yamato had been quite well known for his charming ways even back in Teikoku, but back then the former Alexanders Quarterback had been focused on nothing more than football and the desire to win. For some reason, since joining Saikyoudai, he'd been practicing his charm so frequently that even Mamori found him fascinating, having never seen a man be that way since she had been in an all girl's school in Middle School and well... Deimon just had a bunch of idiots around mostly.

"So what are you going to do with it?" Hiruma pressed on as he noticed that she was still staring at the gift.

"I don't know," Mamori admitted, as she looked at Hiruma uncertainly. "Can we just go and buy the supplies? I really don't want to waste my time thinking about this."

Seeing Mamori's distress, Hiruma decided it was probably a good idea not to push this any further. For now. The gift was left alone on her dining table and they began to walk out without saying another word. Hiruma glanced at her every so often, but he could see that Mamori was too deep in her own thoughts to really notice anything.

The truth was that Hiruma did contemplate on breaking Mamori's White Day rule, mostly because he really believed she deserved it. She was a hardworking woman, always thinking of others before herself and that deserved something for sure. But he knew that above everything, Mamori deserved his utmost respect, and this was something he was willing to comply with if it made her happy.

But there was no suppressing that nagging feeling, warning him that something just isn't right now that Yamato had managed to break through Mamori's defenses. And as much as he respected Mamori, there was no way he was going to let this one slide. "Kekeke, you really are terrible at receiving gifts," said Hiruma, putting on his maniacal grin.

Mamori, recognising that tone of voice, snapped out of her thoughts instantly and replied, "That's not the point! I just don't really need more material objects in my life, I have more than enough as it is!"

"And yet there you were giving out a hell load of material objects just the month before," he continued to tease.

Mamori flustered a little, unsure of where Hiruma's argument was leading. "Well... that's because it made people happy!"

"And don't you think it'd make people happy to give YOU something? So why the fucking ridiculous rule on not receiving anything on White Day? Can't just be because you don't want to wear jewelry all the fucking time," He grinned at her as she let out a frustrated sigh. They were both now standing by the sidewalk, waiting to cross the road as the pedestrian light remained red.

"I just..." Mamori shifted her feet and looked down. "I just want to receive gifts that are really meaningful, not out of obligation..."

Hiruma raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that fucking hypocritical, coming from you?"

"It is, isn't it?" Mamori took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down as she raised her head to look at him. "But to be completely honest, I really just want to receive gifts on White Day from someone who truly loves me... and not just some love out of adoration or admiration. Just... for me, for who I really am, weaknesses and all."

The lights finally turned green but they were both looking at each other so earnestly that they only realised this when someone's arm brushed against Hiruma's. With quick steps, they crossed the road just before the light began to flash. Once they were across, Hiruma asked, "So you think Fucking Prince Charming could be the one?"

"No!" Mamori instantly replied, although she began to blush and wear that expression once more. "At least... I don't think so. He seems sincere and kind, but I don't think he loves me in that way."

"You fucking sure?"

Mamori shrugged, though she smiled a little and gave Hiruma a meaningful look before looking forward. "I'll just have to let time be the judge of that. Whatever it is, I'll stick by my rule, regardless of what people think of me, until that moment comes."

Hiruma gave one last thoughtful glance at her before deciding that it was finally time to drop the subject and focus on the task at hand. After they'd bought the supplies that they needed, they split the supplies among themselves and agreed to bring it to Saikyoudai tomorrow. Hiruma took most of the bulk while Mamori carried the lighter ones, and then they went back to their respective homes.

The day would have ended without any other strange changes if Mamori didn't hear her doorbell ringing late in the night. She rushed out of bed, wondering who would come to see her at this hour. Seeing no one at the peephole, she opened the door to see if the person was still around, but was greeted instead with a couple of items at her doorstep, which surprised her, though her face instantly lit up when she examined them.

The next day, Hiruma grinned at the sight of Mamori apologetically returning Yamato's present... while wearing the small white butterfly hairpiece he had given her last night. And he had a feeling he would find the white lilies he also got her sitting in the middle of her dining table in the vase he'd seen her use a couple of times.

The creampuffs would be gone though.


	25. Can't Leave Behind

**Summary:** Graduation draws near for the third years in Deimon. But Hiruma has other issues to worry about as he packs up his things...

**Notes:** Damn, I am REALLY late with this one. I'm so sorry to SalamiCC for taking so long! A lot of things came up, and I didn't have the right inspiration for this until now. I hope you were all right waiting this long, and that you would enjoy this somehow!

So yes, this is SalamiCC's first prize fic for winning in DA's HirumaxMamori's November prompt. Her prompt was actually the entire scene of Mamori defying Hiruma you read here, though I changed her words a bit to fit better. XD The reason why it took so long was because I wasn't sure what kind of setting to put this in as that was left up to me... and I admit, I took too long to figure that out when in the end, I came up with a rather predictable setting of when they're both going to Saikyoudai. But I hope I made it work... if not feel free to give me some pointers so I can improve better!

Sorry for the delay again! -_-

* * *

The days counting down to when Hiruma, and the rest of the students in his year, were going to graduate from Deimon was now drawing near. There was excitement and sadness in the air as the impending day when they would all move on to bigger things would come. While the rest of the school was busy preparing for this momentous occasion, Hiruma had other issues he had to handle.

Like the fact that his right arm was throbbing again.

He sat back, leaning against the back legs of the chair he was on, his leg rested on the roulette table. His right arm laid limp next to him, unable to move as he felt the pain sear through his arm and slowly eat up the rest of his body. He should be used to days like these, where the almost-healed fracture in his right arm would begin to hurt after strenuously being used the day before... but there were just moments like these where the pain exhausted him and he could do nothing physically.

It was a good thing that there wasn't any practice today... but that still doesn't warrant some idiot won't barge in and see Hiruma in this state. Getting up, he decided he could probably try to get some packing done as he had to do it at some point. And he needed to take his mind off the pain.

He had been continuously training for over a year now, despite not actively participating in any of the main football leagues. He knew he couldn't be lax in his training even though he wasn't allowed to participate. And though he could probably blackmail his way through, he decided it wasn't necessary. There were bigger dreams to focus on now...

And he could make it all come true in Saikyoudai.

Hiruma opened his locker and went through his belongings, slowly putting them in the open backpack he had left there for this moment. He picked up his worn out jersey and other equipment, unable to resist reminiscing about his time here in Deimon. It had been a long and strenuous journey... but they all pulled through well enough. He was glad that he had his time on the field with the Fucking Fatty and Fucking Old Man together... after everything they've been through, he was glad that they were a team for at least this one moment. He had a great team, better than anything he had expected. And now, it was time to part ways...

_But there was still one person he couldn't really leave behind..._

Hiruma tried to reach the top part of the locker for more of his belongings, which were mostly unused phones he had kept stashed away as extras, but his right arm refused to be raised. Hiruma was getting annoyed by this. How much fucking longer must his arm be a pain in the ass? Instead of using his left arm, Hiruma decided his right arm needs to get over itself stubbornly, so he tried to raise it higher.

He was sweating profusely now as the pain continued to eat through him. He hissed in annoyance as the throbbing in his arm began to quicken. _Come on, you stupid arm, stop being a fucking pain in the-_

A blur of green passed Hiruma's eyes and the phone he was reaching out for disappeared. Hiruma turned to see who the culprit was, but was greeted by the Fucking Manager, who had the strangest expression Hiruma had ever seen on her. He could tell there was anger in her; she was pretty much emitting it from every core of her body. But there was a mixture of sadness and, what Hiruma could only figure out as, uncertainty by the way she kept silent as she continued to look at him, the object gripped tightly in her hand.

"What do you think you're fucking doing?" Hiruma asked as he reached his right arm out again to grab the item from Mamori, but she pulled away and instead, moved past him and placed the phone in his backpack. She then proceeded to go through his backpack, pulling out his jersey and extra shirts and then folding them instead of leaving them the way Hiruma had thrown them in.

Hiruma was furious at this point as Mamori went to get more of his phones as if she had every right to, and was even madder at the fact that she didn't even say a word to him. With his right hand, he grabbed Mamori's arm as tightly as possible, ignoring the pain as he said, "Listen to me, Fucking Manager, I don't care what the fuck you're thinking. But this is MY fucking stuff and I'll do it MY fucking way. So just get going already."

Mamori merely glanced at his right hand gripping her and carried on rearranging his belongings. To Hiruma's annoyance, he was in so much pain that he could barely hold on to her, and she probably couldn't even feel his grip on her. Desperate for her to leave, he spoke in a lower voice, almost menacing, "You listen to me, Fucking Manager. Don't you fucking forget that you lost that bet last year. You're supposed to be listening to me and what I tell you to do. So when I order you to fucking leave, I want you to-"

Mamori threw the last of the phones in the backpack with a light crash, almost breaking the item but it silenced Hiruma. She pulled Hiruma's grip away from her arm, but held on to his wrist as she looked at him with such fire in her eyes that Hiruma had never seen. "No! You listen to me! I never cared about that stupid bet! I only let you continue to play against the Hakushuu Dinosaurs because I knew how important it was for the Devil Bats to win, not just for the team, but for you! You think you were the only one in pain that day but it was painful for me to watch too! And it pains me every single day I see you like this, stubbornly accepting your pain and refusing to get help for it! How hard is it to ask me for some painkillers and to help you out with simple tasks like these? Or even ask Musashi to send you to the hospital when you're like this? Every time your old fracture starts hurting, you hole yourself up here and expect the pain to just magically disappear! Are you insane?"

If the situation wasn't so serious, Hiruma would cackle a yes, but he found himself strangely fascinated by Mamori's outburst as he looked at his wrist that was being held. Despite her anger, she was holding on to him gently.

"So I've decided," Mamori continued, her voice became softer though the edge of anger in her voice never left. "Without YOU having to tell me to... that I won't let you or anyone else in MY team act like stupid heroes on the field, running after balls and injuring themselves with the possibility of losing their limbs. Now here," Mamori reached into her pocket and pulled out a couple of tablets and placed it in Hiruma's palm. "Take these. Now. I've spoken to Musashi and he'll be here soon to take you to the hospital and get your arm checked. And don't you dare run away, or I'll alert the whole team about your arm and they will hunt you down."

Hiruma stared at her, completely mesmerised by Mamori despite the fact that he had just been ordered around. And Hiruma never takes orders, he fucking gives them out. But there was something utterly fascinating about Mamori at that point and he kept staring right into her blue eyes, and watched as the flames slowly died out.

For what felt like forever, Mamori finally let him go and proceeded to leave the locker room, her eyes now downcast. "I have to attend the Student Council meeting. I'll come back and finish up clearing out your locker after that," she quickly said though Hiruma could see she kept her head held high.

Musashi had just entered the clubhouse as Mamori was about to leave. "Anezaki?" he spoke up, staring at her expression curiously.

"I'm fine, just send him off already!" she replied angrily as she finally left the clubhouse.

Both Hiruma and Musashi stared at the now vacant door for a moment before Musashi looked at Hiruma questionably and asked, "What did you say to her now?"

Hiruma found Musashi's question odd. What did he mean by now? Were there other moments that he made her have these emotional outbursts? He could barely recall in the past two years since he worked with her. But as he stared at the pills he had in his palm, Hiruma couldn't help but break into a big grin.

He was right, he couldn't really leave her behind. "Interesting... Very interesting indeed..." he cackled.


	26. Accustomed to Carnage

**Summary**: Musashi notices Hiruma's found someone who's used to his destructive ways…

**Notes:** Just a little something I came up with after a random chat with Elis on fics. This story was initially supposed to be a drabble (of 100 words), but it didn't do the story justice. I couldn't fit it in with any of the current prompts available, so I decided I'd work on it more and have a little bit of a HiruMusaMamo feel, though it's still pretty much HiruMamo. Simple, fun fic. XD

* * *

Everybody knows Hiruma's a destructive person by nature. Musashi knew this more than anyone else, after having to mend many broken items and damaged buildings Hiruma wrecked after his random bouts of havoc. So upon re-joining the Devil Bats, he was surprised to discover that Hiruma had found himself a manager that could not only keep up with him, but also had the ability to clean up after him. While she often scolded Hiruma, nagging him, lamenting, and even once tried to knock some sense into him with her broom, Musashi noticed she would still clean up after him. It even came to a point where she even did it wordlessly, having picked up the habit of cleaning up after him without so much as batting an eyelash.

Musashi confronted her about this once, worried that her getting used to the devil's ways would be bad. While she admitted it was worrying as it showed she had learnt to accept his terrible ways, she understood his rampages were nothing more than acts to get things done. Then she smiled at Musashi and said, "You're used to it, too, aren't you?"

Musashi found it strange that she pointed it out. There was no doubt Musashi cared about Hiruma, especially after how much pain he had put the Quarterback through. Still, it was comforting to know that someone out there could handle the devil's destructive ways, and he deeply cared for her too. This was why he knew he wasn't completely clear of Hiruma's crazy carnage just yet. After Hiruma married the "Fucking Manager", Musashi made the mistake of offering his services to the new wife if ever Hiruma damaged anything beyond her ability to repair. Her words always rang clear through his mind whenever he received the occasional call from her, to which he'd always reply, "What did he destroy this time?"


	27. Painfully Aware

**Summary:** Fear has completely taken over him, and the darkness is all that he can see.

**Notes:** This was something I wrote for HiruMamo Day. Not too fond of it, as it's a bit melodramatic. But I really wanted to write a hurt/comfort fic for them. Not my best, but still worth sharing, I hope. Enjoy and Happy HiruMamo Day!

* * *

His eyes flew open, letting out a gasp as he struggled to remember what caused him to feel like he couldn't breathe. There was a strong sensation of pain in his right arm, and it took another second for him to realise that he just had a nightmare. He couldn't remember the details, but the feeling of fear and horror remained within his body, causing him to tremble.

Where was he? It was so dark. What was he doing in bed? He needed to get out. He needed to get rid of the fear in his body, he needed to get over this quick before it's too late.

_Too late for what?_

He tried to get up. He tried to move. His right arm was throbbing, the pain spreading throughout him. But no matter how he willed himself, he couldn't move. It was as if something was weighing him down. Fuck. His mind was spinning, nothing made sense. He took deeper breaths, exhaustion clouding his mind further...

A soft breath, a gentle touch on his arm, a slight whisper. "Hiruma-kun."

He couldn't see her, but he could feel her hand near his elbow, gently touching the fracture. Her face was probably close to his, as he could feel her breathing on his neck. "Hiruma-kun," she whispered again, the tone of concern heavy.

He couldn't reply. He still couldn't see. But the restlessness within him slowly disappeared and his breathing began to slow. The pain in his arm wasn't going away, but the throbbing was not as strong...

"Is something wrong?" he heard Musashi's voice in the background.

"I think the painkillers have worn off," he heard her reply. "His body's tense and I think he might be delirious. I'll go get some painkillers, you just keep watch-"

His left arm lifted and he felt it being pulled. No, that didn't make sense, he knew that. There was a gasp of surprise, feet quietly shuffling on the floor. The pulling stopped. "Hiruma-kun...?"

"Stay."

That was all he could say. Just one word, before exhaustion forced his left arm to fall lifelessly by his side.

He could hear Musashi's voice, distantly saying that he will get the painkillers. Silence reigned for a moment, but he felt movement on the bed, the sheets ruffling...

Her head lying next to his, one arm on his shoulders, her body pressed softly against his.

"I'm not going anywhere."

He remembered his nightmare now. Gaou crushing him, yet he kept playing despite the pain he was in, vomiting blood as his teammates were equally crushed in Gaou's hands. A silence reigned, so sharp it shook him deep inside.

The fear it brought now disappeared. He remembers that they had won, his team is still together, bodies intact. This knowledge alone made it easy for his body to relax.

But for a moment, he leaned his head against hers, and felt a sense of contentment as her arms held him tighter. He had found a strong pillar to depend on, and while the team depended on her as well, he was now painfully aware that he depended on her the most.


	28. Parting Ways

**Summary**: It's time for Hiruma and Mamori to part ways. Well, it's bound to be interesting in some way.

**Notes:** Another HiruMamo fic I wrote for HiruMamo Day, cause I wasn't too happy with the other one. HiruMamo Day is pretty much over for now, but I'm sure it's still going on somewhere in this world! So here. Have some fluff.

* * *

"... And remember to eat well. Don't buy too much of that instant stuff!"

"..."

"And if you're sick, just pull out the First Aid Kit. I made sure to put in all the medication that you need for fever, stomach pains, flu..."

"Stop worrying over shit."

"... There's something for diarrhoea, too. Don't forget that."

"Keh."

The bus doors open with Hiruma and Mamori watching as people slowly trickled them. Hiruma would have to join them too, but he was rooted to the spot. He glanced at Mamori, whose eyes remained fixed on the bus doors, her mind obviously lost in thought. There wasn't much time now, and he had to go.

Deciding that maybe making the process quick would be a better option, Hiruma took a step forward...

"Wait."

Hiruma barely turned his head before he felt Mamori's lips on the corner of his own. It was a quick peck and it left Mamori blushing furiously as she stared at the ground, unable to look up after that bold act.

His maniacal grin was on, amused at the sight. Unable to resist, he reaches out to lift her chin and forces her to look at him. His face sweeps down to capture her lips properly with his, firmly pressed, to which she responded meekly.

He then pulls away, eyes locked on hers and says, "You missed."

Feeling that it wasn't necessary to see her blush even further, sure he'd embarrassed her enough already, Hiruma headed into the bus, feeling rather satisfied with himself.

But just before he took that first step into the bus, his arm was pulled, forcing him to turn back to receive another kiss from Mamori. This time, a rush of emotions was placed into that kiss, and he could feel it. He responds with fervour, eager to take it all in as he snakes his arms around her waist, her lips searing his.

She pulls away at some point, what felt like forever and just a second to Hiruma. She smiles, despite her obvious red cheeks. "Did I get it this time?"

He cackles. Fuck, he was going to miss her. He leans his face closer to hers and whispers, "You still missed a spot."


	29. Cute

Was feeling rather stressed at work a few months back, so I took a break and wanted to write fic. Couldn't write anything I had in mind at the time cause they were all rather serious and stressed me out more, so I knew I wanted to write some silly, fluff HiruMamo fic. So I asked Elis, who I was chatting with, if she could give me any prompts that are simple and cute and something I wouldn't stress over so much.

… She gave me "Kittens". XD THAT GIRL KNOWS MY WEAKNESS!

So yeah… This is pointless and silly, and kinda incomplete too, but what the hell. It made me feel better after writing it. MEOW!

* * *

Hiruma can't stand cuteness.

There was nothing useful about being cute. In fact, he found it a hindrance as it had a tendency of being distracting

But like every other girl, the Fucking Manager is drawn to cuteness. So as they were walking home after a long day of school and practice, fate took a turn for the worse when he realised she strayed from the path they were on to look for the source of the most annoying, high pitched mewls he had ever heard.

She almost squealed out loud when she found the box of kittens by a lamp post. Hiruma merely sneered in disgust. "How could anyone leave these darlings here all alone? Where is their mother?" said Mamori, looking around the quiet neighbourhood.

"She probably went to steal scraps. Let's just go, Fucking Manager." There was an urgent tone in Hiruma's voice, one which Mamori didn't take very well.

"Don't be like that," she frowned. "We should at least make sure they're properly cared for."

"They probably are and you're just worrying for nothing."

The mewling grew louder as the kittens became aware of their presence. A white and gray one mewed especially loud, to which Mamori quickly stooped down and took into her hands. She giggled as the kitten struggled between her palms. Hiruma watched her for a moment as she smiled at the tiny thing and carefully placed the kitten back inside the box.

He chewed on his gum thoughtfully, blowing a bubble before letting it burst and said, "Fine. I'll go first."

Mamori looked disappointed at what he said, but she nodded at him and continued to look over the kittens as Hiruma left her alone with the four noisy furballs.

He came back about 20 minutes later with a can of cat food and milk. Mamori stood in shock when she saw what he had brought, then laughed as she told him, "You really don't know much about kittens, do you?"

Hiruma gave her an _obviously-I-don't_ look but was surprised to see her open the cat food and put it next to the box, rather than in it. She took a few steps back and soon a cat came rushing forward and began to eat from the can.

"I managed to convince one of the neighbours around here to take the kittens and their mother in for now," said Mamori, a gentle smile adorned on her face. "They'll be coming soon."

Hiruma nodded silently, staring at Mamori's face. The neighbour soon came and Hiruma passed the milk to the neighbour too, seeing no use for it. Hiruma and Mamori carried on their journey home, Hiruma's eyes occasionally glancing back at Mamori.

She caught his glances. Smiling nervously, she asked, "The kittens were cute, weren't they?"

"No," he replied. _You were._


	30. Towel

Here's another fic I wrote when I was desperate to write something, but needed something simple to get me in a writing mood. I asked Elis to give me a prompt for a HiruMamo fic and she gave me "Towel".

This isn't much, and I admit it's a bit weird towards the end, but it's a bit of a warm up for me to get used to my old way of writing again before I get back into writing the next chapter of Wait For Me and some other one shots I have in mind.

* * *

He was the last to leave the field on that rainy day.

As the rain began pouring down in torrents and it had gotten darker, the team dismissed themselves and had all gone home. But one person still remained. Mamori knew this as she cleaned up the used towels strewn across the locker floor and realised…

One unused towel remained.

She knew who it was instantly. Sighing, she went to her own locker that was provided to her to keep extra medical and cleaning aids and pulled out two of the extra umbrellas she'd also stored just in case.

The rain was vicious as it wasted no time in soaking Mamori's shoes and socks. Holding the umbrella and towel, she went to the middle of the field where Hiruma continued to throw football. She observed his technique for a moment, and noticed that despite the heavy rain, his passes were still on cue with the routes.

He briefly acknowledged her presence with a quick glance as he threw another ball. But this weather would surely put a strain on him. "I thought practice was over?" she was almost screaming as the heavy raindrops near drowned her voice.

He didn't reply. He threw one more football according to the route, and then he stopped. He just stood there, staring at the field that was now strewn with footballs. Mamori couldn't help but stare at his wet, worn figure. His blond hair framing his face even further as drops of rain poured down the strands. He was thinking, and Mamori wasn't quite sure what was going through his mind…

Until he finally looked at her, grinning. And it was at that moment, Mamori understood why he was on the field. "Don't you dare get fucking sick on me, Fucking Manager!"

"You're the one to talk!" Mamori took that as a sign of it being okay to approach him. She held the umbrella over his head, which he quickly took from her hand. Folding the extra umbrella under her arm, she proceeded to wrap a towel over his head, lightly drying his hair for him. "Really… how many times do I have to tell you not to strain yourself? I'll help you pick up the footballs, you need to take a hot shower after this, do you hear me?"

She carried on drying his hair as she spoke, her face close to his as she tiptoed to reach his head. "You're my fucking manager, not my fucking mother," Hiruma cackled.

"As your manager, I need to make sure you and the rest of the team are in a good state to play, among other things." She finally let the towel drop over his shoulders as she pulled out her own umbrella.

"Sure you're not letting your motherly instincts get the better of you?"

"I have those instincts well under control, Hiruma-kun. If they weren't, I'd be dragging you across this field right this instance."

"I'm sure you can. You've been doing weights, haven't you? You could probably drag the Fucking Fatty too!"

How many times have they had this petty argument, inclusive of little teasings and silly remarks? She knows these words are just fillers, something to keep them occupied for the moment. A distraction, all part of his facade.

Yet for some reason, it only brought out a comforting feeling within her.

They picked up the footballs silently as the rain slowly let up, and Mamori kept them in the clubhouse as Hiruma took a shower and changed back into his uniform. As Mamori took the damp towel from him, she couldn't help but smile a little as she put it together with the other used towels.

"Are you that happy to do laundry, Fucking Manager?"

She ignored his teasing. The filler wasn't necessary. "Hey, Hiruma-kun…"

Mamori glanced around the clubhouse, making sure everything was in order, before she looked back at him with a bright look in her eyes.

"I think American Football is fun, too."

His grin faded for a moment, before it came back again. A look of complete glee and satisfaction filled him. "Kekeke, you're the one to talk, Fucking Manager!"

After locking the clubhouse, they both walked in the rain in silence, umbrellas in hand. As the rain filled in the silence, Mamori couldn't help but feel whole at that moment. The satisfaction of being able to do what she can for the team, of finding her place in this world.

"Ah…" she heard him say, and she turned to see him give her, not a grin, but a genuine smile. It made her wonder if he'd smiled like that when he discovered… "It really is fun."


	31. Birthday Creampuff

A little something I wrote for Mamori's birthday! Seeing as there's a lot of creampuff love going around now, I thought I might as well have this fic be about creampuffs too, so this is quite similar to one of my earlier one shots that used the prompt "sweet". It's a more level-up version, I suppose? In which, I made it sexy. But it's totally up to you. Do note that it is a bit sexier though, but nothing overboard so... if that's okay with you, then enjoy! *passes you a creampuff*

* * *

"You know, creampuffs as a birthday gift is too predictable for someone like me."

"If you don't like it, then you don't have to eat it."

Licking her fingers after eating one piece of Kariya Creampuff, Mamori shook her head. "Well, seeing as you already got it for me, it will have to do. I can't complain."

She reached to take another creampuff, but was taken by surprise when Hiruma's hand reached in first and grabbed the creampuff before her. She stared at him curiously as he grinned in return and…

Mamori's jaw dropped as Hiruma took a bite of the creampuff. His left eye twitched a little as he chewed slowly. "H-Hiruma-kun?" Mamori gasped.

Despite the stoic face he gave, Mamori felt sure he was close to hurling. She was about to grab a tissue and tell him to spit it out, when he swallowed it, choking a little in the process.

"Are you crazy?!" cried Mamori as she approached him, tapping his back softly. "Why did you eat that for? You know you can't stand it-"

Hiruma took this chance to kiss her by surprise. Mamori stared back in shock, unsure of what was going on as Hiruma wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her in closer. Hiruma began to lick her lips softly, and with a defeated sigh, she parted her lips and kissed him back. And that was when she realised…

It was the most delicious kiss she had ever tasted.

They parted for a moment, but Mamori quickly pulled him back in. She had to taste it again, that sweet, intoxicating flavour. She moaned in pleasure, relishing in this new feeling as Hiruma gave her more access. She knew he was grinning again, but it didn't matter. She was already drunk in this sensation.

Finally pulling back, Mamori breathed heavily as she touched her lips, noticing how swollen it was. Hiruma grinned triumphantly as he passed her his uneaten creampuff. "Happy Birthday, Fucking Manager."

Hiruma walked away, leaving Mamori to stare at him for a moment. Sighing, she took a bite of Hiruma's creampuff, then giggled as she realised this was probably his present in a way. Now grinning, she wondered if she could make Hiruma eat another creampuff for her again.


	32. Warmth

**Summary:** Despite being stuck in a snowstorm, Hiruma learns that it can still be pretty warm.

**Notes:** This was actually posted on my DA as it's an entry for the HiruMamo Advent Calendar in the DA group. So I thought why not share it here, too. Thanks for all the love this fic has been getting so far and I hope everyone else enjoys it!

We're still looking for people who can contribute to the Advent Calendar! We just need a few more, so even posting ONE fanart or fanfic would help greatly! Check out which prompts are available, or if you want, you can come up with your own prompt as long as it's Christmas related! PM me for links if you'd like!

Anyways back to this fic, please take note on what a kotatsu is (go google it!). I mention it in this fic. Enjoy. :)

* * *

Putting on the spare clothes Mamori had laid out for him, Hiruma shivered a little as the cold air hit him. A hot shower could barely last a minute in this weather, so he was glad to finally be rid of his wet clothes and into something warmer.

Fine time to get into this mess, but now wasn't the time to complain. Wearing the shirt and pants Hiruma could only guess belonged to Mamori's father, he noticed a sweater left out for him too. As he put it on as well, Hiruma rubbed the soft material and inspected the design further in a mirror nearby. Grinning, he left the room, rubbing his bare hands together as the cold hit once more.

He wondered where Mamori had gone but was soon drawn to the warmth emanating from the hallway. A golden light gleamed softly from within, and Hiruma couldn't help but be entranced by the sight before him.

The hall was decorated with Christmas decorations, blinking lights on the wall formed the words "Merry Christmas", tinsel by the windows and even a medium sized Christmas tree in the corner, decorated in gold. Mamori, wrapped in a large comforter, sat on the floor before a fireplace that had one green and red sock hanging above it, yet her eyes were entranced by the fire dancing softly before her, her lips slightly parted as her mind was obviously wandering. She wasn't aware of his presence as he continued to watch her, for it was the first time that he had seen her in such a light.

It was almost as if she was glowing herself.

Pity he had to ruin the moment. "Keh, I know it's cold but you don't have to be that close. You're going to catch on fire yourself."

Mamori blinked out of her thoughts, pouting a little as he sat next to her. "Well, it's really cold and I wanted my hair to dry out."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say it's on fire already." He was kidding, but whatever dampness that was left in her hair reflected the fire, making her brown hair glow a hue of red. It was quite a sight to him.

"Hmph," Mamori raised her head a little, a small smile forming at the side of her lips. She took a good look at Hiruma's sweater. "Ah, it actually fits!"

"You mean it shouldn't?" Hiruma placed his hands behind him, resting his weight on them. He looked at his black sweater again, noting the strange glob of red on the front.

"Well, it should, but I was a little worried cause it was a bit of a rushed job for me," she replied as she left her comforter for a moment to touch the front of the sweater, where the red glob was. A sweat-drop formed as Mamori cringed at the sight of it.

"I noticed," Hiruma grinned. He took Mamori's hand, hot under his icy fingers, and moved it away to take a better look at it. "Was this supposed to be Devil Bat?"

Mamori cringed further, gripping Hiruma's hand tightly. "Fine. You can tease me about it. I told you it's a rushed job!"

"I don't think this would have looked any better even if you had time for it. You'd probably ruin it more trying to fix it."

"Geez, give a girl a break! I did my best you know," Mamori sighed as her eyes wandered back to the fire. "But I guess it wasn't even fit to be a Christmas present after all. You're still cold, aren't you? I'll get you a drink."

Mamori's hand slipped away from his as she got up to walk to a nearby table. Two mugs were already set there, and she poured coffee in them from a tumbler that sat on the table.

Hiruma looked at her back for a moment, noting the slight slouch she had on. "Keh, who fucking cares about Christmas?" he grinned, looking at the Christmas tree and the few presents it had at the bottom. "You made this fucking thing right?"

Mamori glanced back at him curiously. "... Yes?"

"Then I fucking accept it regardless of the season. It's doing a damn good job of keeping me warm."

He heard her giggle behind him as she came back again, passing him his mug of coffee as she sat next to him once more. "Really? Is it that comfy?"

"I said it does its fucking job, didn't I?" Hiruma sipped his coffee slowly, content at how hot and bitter it was.

Mamori nodded slowly to herself, putting her mug of coffee away for a moment to grab her comforter and wrap herself in it. Then she moved closer to him...

And wrapped more of the comforter around him. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Fucking Manager?"

"I felt your hands just now, you're freezing," she said, adjusting the comforter on him and then pressing up against him. "There, that's to keep you warm."

Picking up her coffee once more, she wrapped herself further, nudging closer to Hiruma as her eyes stayed on the fire before her.

He stared at her as she took a sip from her coffee, disregarding the look or even the awkward situation they were in. "What makes you think I'm that cold? Don't you think I'm used to it?"

"You're used to this cold?" she looked at him curiously.

"Of course. I don't live in a house like yours after all. For one thing, we don't even have a fireplace. I've never even used a kotatsu* before and yet I get by just fine."

Strangely enough, Mamori leaned on him further, sipping on her coffee slowly. "What you're saying is you never really felt the warmth of being with others."

Hiruma frowned at her response. "What does that even fucking mean?"

"You mentioned fireplace and a kotatsu, right?" she pointed out, looking at him with knowing eyes. "Those things are usually associated with people gathering to enjoy the warmth of being together. You don't need a fireplace or even a kotatsu if you're on your own... unless you've had a taste of it and learnt to appreciate it. If that's the case, then I can understand why you think all this is unnecessary."

"And yet you still want me under the covers with you?"

"As long as you're in my house, I want to make sure you're warm. So I don't care if you're used to the cold," she smiled.

Hiruma cackled in response, taking a sip from his coffee. "Well, you should care. You've pretty much set yourself up for trouble, trusting someone like me."

Mamori looked at him suspiciously. "Trouble? You're not going to tickle me are you? You know I can't stand that! I might just spill coffee on you if you even try!"

Hiruma stared at her in surprise for a moment, before bursting into a fit of laughter. This girl completely trusts him, and not even in the same way as she trust him on the field, but on this personal level.

And yet despite his disbelief, he knew he trusted her in the same way as well. "Kekeke, fine! Do what you want! Though once you're done with your coffee, I may just do as you suggested."

Rather than move away from him, she leaned even closer to him, her head practically leaning on his shoulder. "I'll fight you back then."

He didn't respond, knowing it was true. They stayed silent for a moment, staring at the fire, sipping on their coffee under the covers. He had never experienced warmth like this before. It wasn't like the hot summers or being in a room with the heater turned on way too high. This felt strangely comfortable to him, calming even. The howling wind outside was the only reminder of how cold that night was.

"I hope everyone got home safely," Mamori whispered, putting her mug away.

"Pretty sure they didn't get stuck in this storm, Fucking Manager."

"I hope so," she looked out at the window, then back to the fire. "We thought the snow storm wouldn't be that bad when we left after all. I hope the others didn't make the same mistake we did."

"Keh, stop worrying so much, you know it's a waste of time."

"Hmm."

It didn't take long for Hiruma to realise that not only was she leaning on him, but his head was resting on hers too. Her fingers had somehow tangled with his, and it was then that he realised his fingers were not icy cold anymore. The fire danced in place, almost celebrating in a way.

He could really get used to this.

"Fucking Manager."

"Yes?"

"Let's try out a kotatsu next time."

He knew she was smiling. "Sure. Shall I invite the others? I can make a big hot pot for everyone."

"They'll cause a mess."

"But hot pot tastes better with more people around."

"Fine. On one condition."

Mamori raised her head to look at him. "What is it?"

And he took this chance to lean his forehead against hers. "I get to be under the covers with you like this again."

Mamori sighed, wrapping an arm around his waist to let him lean closer to her. "I'm guessing not in front of the others then? Well..."

She gently kissed him on the lips. "You're welcome anytime."


	33. The Guardian Angel

**Summary:** It's time to decorate the Christmas tree, but while Mamori does most of the work, Hiruma stumbles upon a little secret Mamori has for Christmas.

**Notes:** Another entry for the Christmas Advent calendar, which I am only posting now in time for Christmas. Enjoy. :)

* * *

Hiruma was never keen on decorating the house for Christmas. He had never celebrated Christmas before, and the whole decorating process seemed like a ridiculous and arduous task. But as it was their first Christmas together since Mamori moved in, Hiruma decided it was best to humour her and let her do as she wish in their new home.

Mamori had already decorated the hall with tinsel and little table decoration of snowmen and even Christmas cards. So Hiruma helped her set up the Christmas tree, by the corner of the hall, then passed her the ornaments. He had no sense of how a Christmas tree should be decorated, so he allowed her to decorate it as she pleased. She had been quiet throughout most of the decorating process, taking a step back to observe her work, before working on it again.

As Hiruma rummaged through the red and gold bulbs, he found one particular ornament that didn't seem to fit in with the rest. He pulled it out and examined it carefully.

It was a simple angel ornament, where its body looked to be made of a cone cardboard with silver glitter paper and little arms sticking out. Its round head had brown hair and a golden halo rested on top of it. And all it had as a face was just two dots and a curved line to make a smiling face.

"Oh! You found it!" cried Mamori excitedly as she sat next to him and took the angel ornament carefully from him.

"What is it?" he asked, curious at her sudden reaction.

She gave a pensive smile as the angel ornament laid safe within her hands. "This is my guardian angel. My parents bought it for me when we went Christmas ornament shopping."

"Keh, how sentimental."

Mamori giggled. "You're right! I was only six at the time. I really wanted to decorate my own Christmas tree, but my parents couldn't afford a whole new set of ornaments, so they made me choose one. I remember looking through so many ornaments, they glittered and shone, looked cute and sweet... but the moment I laid my eyes on this one, I knew this was it."

Mamori got up and walked towards the Christmas tree, putting the Angel ornament right in the middle of the tree. "My parents asked me why did I choose this, and then I said, with a lot of confidence I may add, that this was my guardian angel and she wanted me to take her home. I believed she would protect my family, and always give us the best Christmas ever. And when I open up my presents, I always feel grateful to her somehow cause I get to celebrate Christmas with my family."

Hiruma carried a rather stoic expression as he stared at the angel. Thinking she might have said too much, she sat back down again, leaning against Hiruma. "I'm sorry, I know you're not used to this part of Christmas. It has a lot of traditions that you're probably not fond of..."

"So if you brought this here instead of leaving it with your parents," Hiruma spoke up, looking at her. "Does this mean you're hoping it would protect this family instead?"

Mamori blushed a little. She placed a hand on her belly as she sighed. "I guess it's a little childish of me to still believe in such things, huh?"

"Kekeke, you better not fucking make our child believe in Santa Claus," he cackled in return. "You know I would crush that child's dream in an instant. But..."

He wrapped an arm around Mamori's waist and pulled her closer to him. "A Guardian Angel is fine. Though I think you do a much better job than a fucking ornament."

"Youichi, I don't think that's..." They stared at each other for a moment, until Mamori broke into a smile and rested her head against his shoulder. "Idiot," she giggled.

Eyes on the angel ornament once more, Mamori murmured, "I'm looking forward to Christmas next year."

"Kekeke, me too."

* * *

**Extra Notes:** Here's a fun fact! I have never written on Mamori being pregnant or Hiruma and Mamori having a child before. It's my first time to even HINT on it actually. I'm not really good at coming up with scenarios like this one, so for me to actually come up with this is quite surprising even for me. I hope this is all right then, and that you all enjoy it somehow!


	34. Demons Don't Fall

It's been a while since I updated here! I really apologise, real life has been insane for me. Anyways, I received a request to write the moment where Hiruma falls in love in a very shoujo-ish style. Sadly, I couldn't quite do it in a very shoujo-style as I still wanted to make sure Hiruma wasn't out of character and all "doki-doki" haha! So I did what I could with such a prompt and I hope some of you enjoy this. :)

* * *

He felt sure all this began when he felt some form of attraction towards her after their first fight at the clubhouse, not long after she was recruited. When he challenged her, and she took on all of it without batting an eyelid, he must admit she was quite a sight. While many would cower, run or even cry at his challenge of Football knowledge, demanding every little detail littered with bullets and an evil grin, all she had was a broom in her hand and a steady glare to take him on.

The fact that she could answer all of his questions without a single mistake, forcing him to admit temporary defeat albeit mentally, contributed to the fact that for that one moment… he thought she was amazing.

Ever since then, he found himself feeling exactly that in every moment she bewildered him with her words and actions. If he had to describe the feeling, it would be one of awe and fascination, wrapped in something a little bigger than that, which he wasn't familiar with.

Not that he was keen to figure out. He didn't want to waste time on this. But the feeling would grow, lasting more than the usual 0.48 seconds to 1 second. And then came a time where he mulled over it for a total of 3 full fucking seconds. Despite the growing feeling, he was determined to never, ever admit what that feeling really was.

Somehow he always had an inkling of what it really was. But he needed to hold on to this image of a demon after all. And demons don't fall.

Then she caught him at a time where being a demon wasn't necessary. Maybe he didn't want to be, at least for 3 seconds. He needed to confirm something, right there as they were walking back from their first day as Third Years.

"Let's aim towards going to Saikyoudai. Just the two of us."

"Okay."

And it was that look in her eyes, that determination he had seen countless times, and the mere idea of seeing more of that, more of her, for more years to come…

In those 3 seconds, his eyes glazed over and he slowly exhaled. There was an excitement in his heart and body that he had never known existed, different yet similar to the victories he'd tasted, and in that moment… he grinned.

Yes. He was willing to finally admit he had fallen hard for this Fucking Manager.

She looked at him curiously, asking him if something was wrong, for in that 3 seconds he felt sure she saw a side of him she had never seen before. He told her it was nothing, and when she persisted, he told her that if she was smart enough, which he always knew her to be, she would eventually figure it out.

And when she does, he was sure she was going to see that side of him more often.


End file.
